The current study evaluated the effects of the culturally adapted Jóvenes Fuertes (Strong Teens) Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) program on the social-emotional outcomes of Latino English language learners (ELLs). A quasi-experimental design with random assignment by classrooms was used to assess the intervention's effects on students' knowledge of SEL and resiliency. A sample of 102 Spanish-dominant Latino ELLs enrolled in middle or high school participated in this study. The results indicated significant intervention effects on SEL knowledge and social-emotional resiliency. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for preventive, culturally responsive SEL programs in school settings.
Immigrant youth face many challenges as they adapt to a new culture and society. School-based social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions have been proposed to teach these children's coping skills that can help them with such life-changing transitions. A growing body of research supports the need to make adaptations to any evidence-based intervention, including SEL, to ensure the intervention's efficacy and cultural sensitivity. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of adapting an evidence-based SEL programme for use with a group of Latino immigrant adolescents enrolled in public schools in the USA. The ecology validity framework was adopted for the pilot/feasibility study described in this paper. A group of 40 recent-immigrant Latino adolescents participated in the study. Participants reported favourable social validity and acceptability ratings. The youth also demonstrated an increase in SEL knowledge. The results suggested that developing and implementing cultural adaptations to existing evidence-based interventions in school settings is feasible and socially valid. Implications for culturally responsive school-based interventions are presented.
In this article, we conduct a systematic review of the extant literature on the risk and protective factors that impact the healthy resettlement of refugee children around the world. We identify acculturative stress as a main risk factor to consider for assessment and intervention given that is often overlooked in the literature for refugee children, but has been found to strongly impact their socio-emotional development. In addition, we discuss ecologically framed/culturally responsive interventions and assessment practices that could aid in the successful resettlement of refugee children. We also discuss the limitations of the extant research on refugee children and make recommendations for future research directions.
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