Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Globalization and digitalization have brought about rapid changes in society, contributing to an increase in diversity as well as in social inequalities and tensions between communities and identities. This rapidly changing world presents both challenges and opportunities for early adolescents. This special issue aims to investigate how early adolescents navigate this context of increasing diversity and polarization across different realities and countries (i.e., Canada, South Korea), with a specific focus on the unique experiences of youth with a migration background. Multiple methodologies and perspectives are presented, providing a rich foundation for future research. A social justice and strength-oriented perspective that addresses the structural inequities and injustices faced by youth within a socio-ecological framework in both research and intervention is warranted. Youth-led participatory initiatives are promising ways to support and empower immigrant youth’s development in the present socially polarized context.

Keywords

diversity early adolescence immigrant social polarization social justice

The combined forces of globalization and digitalization have accelerated societal transformations, amplifying social inequalities and exacerbating tensions across communities and identities (Ozer et al., 2023). Recent global crises—including the lingering consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation heightened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, large-scale displacement linked to conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, and ongoing trade disputes—have further destabilized both international systems and everyday social life. These dynamics have reinforced structural inequities, fueled political dissatisfaction, and undermined the influence of traditional centrist parties, thereby creating fertile ground for the expansion of populist and far-right movements (Adam-Troian, 2021). In parallel, xenophobic discourse has become increasingly normalized within political and public arenas, reinforcing institutional racism and fostering climates conducive to inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions (ADL Fighting Hate for Good, 2019; Elgar et al., 2015; Stephens & Sieckelinck, 2020).

The economic crisis, climate change as well as international conflicts are some of the factors responsible for the constant increase in migration fluxes worldwide. In 2024, there were 304 million international migrants in the world, representing 4% of the total population, a percentage that has doubled over the past decades (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, 2024). In 2020, 13% of all immigration was made up by children under the age of 18 (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, 2024). In face of the growing immigration and diversity of our societies, public and political discourses have shifted from a representation of migrants as vulnerable, particularly children, to their characterizations as potential threats to host societies (Rousseau, 2019). Democratic societies increasingly depict immigrants as potential threats to national security in ways that are denounced by many international organizations as non-democratic and illegitimate (Khan & Gharib Seif, 2024). As our world becomes increasingly unstable and chaotic, the rights of women and girls are being reduced, restricted and reversed (Guterres, 2025, March 11). This evolving sociopolitical context and social polarization significantly influence the lives and health of migrant youth, straining social cohesion (Hickman & Mai, 2015) and eroding their sense of belonging (Choi et al., 2025; Gholami & Costantini, 2025). Within this international context of increasing racism, xenophobia, misogyny, anti-Semitism, anti-immigration and Islamophobia, the surge in hate discourses and incidents among youth cannot come as a surprise (de Haan, 2023). Racist, misogynist and anti-LGBTQ + hate discourses and incidents among youth are increasingly reported in the news internationally (Fazackerley, 2023; Weale, 2023). How youth, and in particular youth with an immigrant background, can successfully navigate the emerging challenges and opportunities of this increasingly diverse and polarized world is unclear. This gap in research motivated the current special issue on pathways to resilience in early adolescents with an immigrant background in the present increasingly diverse and polarized world.

Early Adolescent Immigrants in a Rapidly Changing and Uncertain World

Early adolescence (ages 10 to 14) is a critical developmental period characterized by profound physical, emotional and cognitive changes that shape the development of personal and social attitudes, thus representing a critical window of opportunity for prevention efforts. The developmental search for identity and belonging typical of this stage of life (Steinberg, 2014) can be particularly challenging for youth in the context of migration, who face additional challenges in their development (Juang et al., 2018; Titzmann & Juang, 2017). On top of possible pre-migration adversity (e.g., exposure to violence, trauma and grief, separation, disruption of education, deprivation, insecurity, precarity), immigrant youth can face many structural barriers and injustices in the receiving society, which hinder their psychosocial development and also widen educational, social, and health disparities (Frounfelker et al., 2020; Miconi & Rousseau, 2021). Existing equity, diversity, and inclusion policies have been criticized for their inability to address long-standing structural injustice, attitudinal changes, and for sparking backlash and sometimes exacerbating divisions, as seen in mounting intergroup violence and discrimination in youth (Byrd, 2022; Wolbring & Nguyen, 2023). When asked about how to prevent conflicts and tensions in schools, one adolescent participating in a focus group discussion as part of one of my research projects stressed the obvious fact that “everyone thinks differently, and each intervention could either separate or bring people closer together” (Miconi et al., 2025).

Despite the multiple forms of adversity that migrant youth face, studies have shown that they often adapt well to their new environments. Known as the “healthy immigrant effect”, this phenomenon reflects that first-generation immigrant youth tend to have better health outcomes than their native-born peers, especially in the North-American reality (García-Coll et al., 2012; Vang et al., 2017). This resilience is hypothesized to be linked with immigration policies favoring a selection bias, the particular strengths of those migrating, better health habits, and parental and community expectations and support (García-Coll et al., 2012; Vang et al., 2017). This phenomenon invited a shift from a deficit-oriented perspective towards a strength-based approach in research and intervention with immigrant youth that acknowledges the personal and contextual resources that youth mobilize to overcome both individual and collective adversity and thrive in society.

In addition, youth with an immigrant background may face different challenges across countries with very different immigration realities. For instance, recent immigration in the emerging multicultural reality of the South Korean society presents unique challenges (Kim & Kim, 2025; Yoo, 2024) that are different from those of the long-standing generations of immigrants present in the very culturally diverse Canadian society, where first- (i.e., youth born outside of their country of residence) and second-generations (i.e., youth born in their country of residence from at least one foreign-born parent) can make up more than half of students in schools in urban areas (Lahaie, 2020). Yet, most studies on migrant youth are conducted in the North-American or European contexts and do not compare immigrant generations (Lerias et al., 2025). Less is known on how migrant youths’ adaptation unfolds in other parts of the world that are presently seeing a rapid increase in immigration flows, or on the specific needs and strengths of second-generation youth compared to first-generation youth. Essentially, these are some of the gaps in research that this special issue aims to address.

A Plurality of Research Methods and Perspectives

Each paper in this special issue addresses an emerging challenge that immigrant youth need to face in the contemporary diverse and polarized world, including mounting discrimination (St-Pierre et al., 2024), widening acculturation gaps and conflictual identity development (Vigu & Tardif-Grenier, 2024), acculturative stress in facing rapid changes in society (Yoo, 2024) and social polarization (Mueller et al., 2025). In addition, each paper explores also how youth can successfully mobilize personal and contextual resources to face these challenges and thrive within a strength-based approach that overcomes deficit-oriented perspectives. Among others, coping strategies, social support, ego-resilience and school-based interventions to mitigate social polarization are investigated as promising ways for youth to navigate the challenges of this world. The four included studies vary on key dimensions as well as on methods, including two quantitative studies, one mixed-method study and a scoping review. Among the three empirical papers included, one adopts a person-centered approach within a longitudinal design and two are based on cross-sectional data within a traditional variable-centered design. This diversity in key dimensions and methodological approaches ensures that each paper provides a unique contribution to the literature. Finally, the papers focus on different populations and samples across diverse cultural contexts. One study focuses on first-, second- and third-plus generation immigrants in Quebec (Canada), another one, also conducted in Quebec (Canada), focused exclusively on first- and second-generation immigrant youth. One study conducted in South Korea focused on multicultural youth. The number of children and youth from multicultural families has been recently growing in South Korea, with youth facing specific challenges related to the historical predominantly homogeneous cultural environment as well as the emphasis put on the value of this ethnic homogeneity (Yoo, 2024), which sharply contrasts with the long-standing cultural diversity and inter-cultural policies that are traditionally endorsed in Quebec (Canada) (McAndrew et al., 2010). The scoping review confirms that a bias exists in the documentation of school-based interventions to address social polarization with youth, with most research coming from the Global North, particularly from the United States and European countries (Mueller et al., 2025). The review does not focus exclusively on youth with an immigration background, but tackles more broadly on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion within educational systems and on promising practices to mitigate social polarization with youth and teachers. All of the papers adopt a socio-ecological and strength-based framework, situating individual strengths in interaction with potential risk and protective factors across multiple contexts (e.g., family, school, community, peers).

A Rapid Overview of This Special Issue

We begin this special issue with a paper that investigates how 512 first- and second-generation immigrant adolescents in Canada mobilize multiple coping strategies (i.e., religious, substance use, problem-focused, socially-supported, humor, avoidance, positive reframing and self-distraction) to mitigate the impact of discrimination on their mental health (St-Pierre et al., 2024). Results from regression and moderation analyses on responses to self-reported questionnaires point to some unexpected findings. Religious coping, which has been documented as a successful protective strategy in the face of adversity, emerged as a risk factor in contexts of increased discrimination, whereas substance use, traditionally considered a maladaptive coping strategy for one’s mental health, was found to be protective for youth facing discrimination. These findings can be interpreted based on the strong need for belonging and acceptance during early adolescence in a context of increased discrimination, including religious discrimination (Benner, 2017). For socio-historical reasons, religion is a particularly sensitive and polarizing issue within the Quebec society (McAndrew et al., 2010; Miconi et al., 2021) and this study was conducted in 2018, not long after the Quebec mosque shooting (Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), 2018). It is possible that religion could have been one of the reasons responsible for youth experiencing discrimination, with religious coping exposing youth to an increased risk of being further discriminated. This hypothesis would also explain why religious coping was indeed protective for immigrant youth who did not report experiencing discrimination. In a safe-enough context where discrimination (and religious discrimination in particular) is very limited, one’s religious coping may not expose youth to increased risk and be rather protective by providing meaning and social support. However, further studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis, considering also religious discrimination more specifically and distinguishing among youth’s religious beliefs. Substance use, although possibly leading to other health and social issues in the long term, has been associated with popularity in adolescence (Cole et al., 2024). It might have been protective especially for discriminated youth in the short term by allowing them to get accepted into peer groups, thus preventing their isolation and providing a sense of belonging and support (Cole et al., 2024; Copeland et al., 2018; Hashem et al., 2024). Problem-focused strategies as well as strategies focused on social support assume that youth have access to supportive networks that would have their back in situations of discrimination. The fact that these strategies did not buffer the association between discrimination and anxiety might indicate that this support network is weak, if at all present, for immigrant youth. These findings invite us to question our assumptions of what is good or bad for youth, and to listen carefully to their experiences and realities which are getting increasingly complex, needing new creative solutions. They also underline the urgent need to address structural injustices and discrimination in our societies.

The exploration of social support networks in first-, second- and third-plus generation immigrants in Quebec (Canada) is the focus of the second paper of this special issue, which presents a mixed-method study on 960 early adolescents who completed a self-report survey, with a subsample of 16 youth who also participated in individual interviews (Vigu & Tardif-Grenier, 2024). The authors investigated the specific and unique experiences that each generation of immigrants reported in terms of perceived social support with family (i.e., mother, father, siblings), school (i.e., peers, teachers, school staff), friends and ethnic/religious community. Quantitative findings pointed to the unique challenges faced by second-generation immigrant youth, who reported significantly less social support from their mother, teachers and school personnel compared to their peers. In contrast, both first- and second-generation immigrant youth reported more support from their communities than third-plus generation immigrant youth. Qualitative interviews with a subsample of youth allowed to better contextualize these findings. Perceived discrimination and structural injustices as well as cultural and generational gaps in values and practices were reported as particularly challenging for second-generation youth who were “caught between two worlds” (Baysu et al., 2011). At times, conflicting cultural values between contexts associated more with one’s heritage (e.g., family) or receiving (e.g., school) societies could lead to conflicts with parents and school personnel and complexify identity development (Mok & Morris, 2009). The authors situate these findings within the Quebec school context, where, despite multiple formal and informal efforts to value diversity, some resistance to accepting and valuing other languages than French and the diversity of religious expression persists (McAndrew et al., 2010). Preserving and promoting youth’s sense of belonging and social cohesion to allow them to develop an integrated identity in a context marked by diversity of cultures, ideologies, genders, languages, religions and values represents a difficult task (de Haan, 2023), even more difficult for second-generation immigrant youth. Based on youth’s voiced experiences, the attitudes of significant adults in their lives are very much part of the problem, especially when they do not allow for non-conflictual discussions and disagreements and rather favor an authoritarian, moralizing and control-oriented approach that can lead some youth towards self-censorship or withdrawal (Vigu & Tardif-Grenier, 2024). This represents an urgent issue to address for researchers, educators and policy-makers alike, which need to get to a better understanding of immigrant youth experiences and challenges. Given how community social support was salient for both first- and second-generation immigrants alike, facilitating links with the community in both informal (e.g., extended family and friends) and formal settings (e.g., school, community organizations) might be a promising avenue of prevention. Opening non-moralizing spaces for dialogue and expression that welcome one’s distress, feelings of injustice, disagreements and discomfort with both youth and adults are also needed to prevent mounting anger and isolation and lessen divisions (Miconi et al., 2025).

Yoo’s study (Yoo, 2024) focused on the construct of ego-resilience, which is considered a personal trait that affects how well one handles daily experiences and adversities. He investigated trajectories of ego-resilience during early adolescence over 5 years, using a representative sample of multicultural youth (with at least one parent – usually the mother - born abroad) in South Korea. More specifically, he explored if and how contextual risks and protective factors (within one’s family, school, and friends) could explain differences in trajectories. Using a latent class growth analysis, results indicated five different trajectories, with some youth improving, some youth getting worse and some youth remaining relatively stable in terms of ego-resilience over time. Acculturative stress, i.e., higher stress associated with navigating across the heritage and Korean cultures in everyday life, was higher in trajectories of decreasing or low ego-resilience, indicating that negative experiences related to one’s multicultural background can jeopardize the development of one’s personal assets. Although ego-resilience is conceptualized as a personality trait linked to individual characteristics, findings point to the crucial role that contextual resources can play in supporting youth’s individual assets during early adolescence, in line with epigenetics that emphasize the constant interaction between individual predisposition and environmental experiences in shaping development (Smeeth et al., 2021). Indeed, more family support and higher income were related to better trajectories, as were better relationships in school. Once again, family and school emerge as two crucial developmental contexts that can play a significant role in prevention and intervention with early adolescents. These findings need to be interpreted within a social justice perspective that acknowledges how early adolescents’ personal assets are very much influenced by the structural and contextual barriers they face in society. For prevention efforts to have a real impact, it is necessary to address systemic injustices and to reduce causes of acculturative stress, such as discrimination and financial instability. In addition, supporting and working with key developmental contexts such as families and schools rather than on individual characteristics may be a more impactful strategy to ensure that youth can thrive despite the acculturative challenges they might be facing.

The last paper included in this special issue focused specifically on educational contexts as privileged places for prevention and intervention efforts (Mueller et al., 2025). The scoping review aimed to provide an overview of existing school-based initiatives that aim to mitigate the impacts of the current social polarization on youth and promote equity, diversity and inclusion. Findings shed light on the heterogeneous and at times confusing terminology mobilized by the 60 studies included in the review to address social polarization and/or issues related to equity, diversity and inclusion, making the summarizing of available research on the topic and of the effectiveness of existing initiatives quite challenging. Overall, existing programs and initiatives, addressed either to youth or to school personnel, encountered very specific local challenges; in contexts of strong polarization such efforts can backfire and have iatrogenic effects. The authors propose that, in a polarized environment, some interventions - especially didactic and policy-related ones - can be perceived as moralizing and evoke guilt or anger in participants. When personal values are challenged without allowing for open discussion and expression of negative feelings, resistance and backlash are more likely to occur (Jaekel, 2016). Based on the available although limited evidence reviewed, interventions and programs that combine multiple approaches - including art-based methods, simulation, skill training and empathy-focused approaches - and that adapt initiatives to the specific developmental needs of adolescents are a promising way to restore social cohesion in schools and promote equity, diversity and inclusion in socially polarized contexts. Of importance, mirroring results from Vigu and Tardif-Grenier (2024)’s study, interventions with a community component were also related to more positive outcomes. These approaches avoid censorship, control and moralizing stances in favor of initiatives that amplify students’ voices and agency while welcoming the discomfort that might arise from diversity of opinions and values.

Beyond the Challenges: Identifying Promising Avenues for Future Research and Intervention

Overall, the papers in this special issue begin to shed light on the challenges and opportunities offered to youth by the present polarized world in rapid transformation and explore promising ways to support youth in their development. On the one hand, the increasing diversity in our current societies - related not just to one’s ethnic origin but also to ideologies, genders, religions, and personal values - presents rich opportunities for social and personal reflection and transformation. On the other hand, it poses significant challenges related to the growing sentiments of individual and collective threat that fuel fear and anger in youth and adults alike, contributing to mounting divisions and hate in society. Preserving youth’ sense of belonging and supporting youth’s development of integrated identities is particularly difficult in the present divisive context, and this task is even harder for youth with an immigrant background who are at increased risk of being exposed to structural injustices, conflicting values and hate. Researchers, educators, clinicians and policy-makers struggle to keep up with the rapid pace of social change and its impacts on youth’s development, which hinders the chances of implementing timely and effective prevention and intervention initiatives. It remains of the utmost importance to denounce and address systemic and structural injustices within a social justice approach, while preserving spaces for democratic dialogue and dissent that are essential to learn how to navigate in our increasingly diverse world. The impact of the digital world as a crucial developmental context for young people (Navarro & Tudge, 2023) has not been explored in this special issue, but future research should include experiences in the online world which is influencing development in interaction with experiences across more traditional developmental contexts (e.g., family, school, community). Existing solutions do not seem to be working well and require rapid adaptations to emerging needs. To quote again adolescent participants from one of my studies: “it’s all about making room for young people” (Miconi et al., 2025). Adolescents are the ones who can tell us what they need and how we can really help, and youth-led participatory action-research might be a promising starting point to make sure we amplify youth’s voices so that they can be and feel heard as well as belong, no matter their beliefs or backgrounds.

Footnotes

ORCID iD

Diana Miconi

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biography

Diana Miconi, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and an assistant professor at the Department of Educational Psychology and Adult Education at the University of Montreal. Her research adopts a positive youth development approach to investigate violent and non-violent radicalization among adolescents, with a specific focus on the online and school contexts.

References

Adam-Troian

Tecmen

Kaya

(2021). Youth extremism as a response to global threats? A threat-regulation perspective on violent extremism among the youth. European Psychologist, 26(1), 15–28.

ADL Fighting Hate for Good . (2019). Online hate and harassment: The American experience. https://www.adl.org/onlineharassment

Baysu

Phalet

Brown

(2011). Dual identity as a two-edged sword: Identity threat and minority school performance. Social Psychology Quarterly, 74(2), 121–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/0190272511407619

Benner

(2017). The toll of racial/ethnic discrimination on adolescents' adjustment. Child Development Perspectives, 11(4), 251–256. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12241

Byrd

(2022). How diversity fails: An empirical investigation of organizational status and policy implementation on three public campuses. Education Sciences, 12(3), 211. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12030211

Choi

Mao

Park

(2025). Promoting school belonging for immigrant students: The interplay of inclusive school climate and multicultural education (pp. 1–21). School Effectiveness and School Improvement.

Cole

V. T.

Richmond-Rakerd

L. S.

Bierce

L. F.

Norotsky

R. L.

Peiris

S. T.

Hussong

A. M.

(2024). Peer connectedness and substance use in adolescence: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors: Journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 38(1), 19–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000914

Copeland

Fisher

J. C.

Moody

Feinberg

M. E.

(2018). Different kinds of lonely: Dimensions of isolation and substance use in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(8), 1755–1770. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0860-3

de Haan

(2023). The’every day’of polarisation in schools; understanding polarisation as (not) dialogue. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 33(2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2023.2237986

10.

Elgar

F. J.

Pförtner

T.-K.

Moor

De Clercq

Stevens

G. W.

Currie

(2015). Socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health 2002–2010: A time-series analysis of 34 countries participating in the health behaviour in School-aged children study. Lancet (London, England), 385(9982), 2088–2095. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61460-4

11.

Fazackerley

(2023). Schools in England block lessons on Middle East over fears of bias claims. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/nov/05/schools-in-england-block-lessons-on-middle-east-over-fears-of-bias-claims

12.

Frounfelker

R. L.

Miconi

Farrar

Brooks

M. A.

Rousseau

Betancourt

T. S.

(2020). Mental health of refugee children and youth: Epidemiology, interventions, and future directions. Annual Review of Public Health, 41, 159–176. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094230

13.

García-Coll

Patton

Marks

A. K.

Dimitrova

Yang

Suarez-Aviles

Batchelor

(2012). Understanding the immigrant paradox in youth: Developmental and contextual considerations. In Capitalizing on migration. The potential of immigrant youth (pp. 159–180). Cambridge University Press.

14.

Gholami

Costantini

(2025). Educating for living diversity:‘Migrant’identities, belonging and community centred pedagogies for social justice. British Educational Research Journal, 51(1), 25–48. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4063

15.

Guterres

(2025). “We must push countries, governments to prioritize investments in equality for women, girls” secretary-general tells civil society meeting [Remarks at the town hall meeting with civil society, on the occasion of the sixty-ninth session of the commission on the status of women]. United Nations.

16.

Hashem

Dossani

Ghani

Ahsen

A. S.

Morshed

(2024). Belonging as a predictor of substance use for Muslim American emerging adults. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 17(2), 25–36. https://doi.org/10.3998/jmmh.1176

17.

Hickman

M. J.

Mai

(2015). Migration and social cohesion: Appraising the resilience of place in London. Population, Space and Place, 21(5), 421–432. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.1921

18.

Jaekel

(2016). What is normal, true, and right: A critical discourse analysis of students’ written resistance strategies on LGBTQ topics. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 29(6), 845–859. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2016.1162868

19.

Juang

L. P.

Simpson

J. A.

Lee

R. M.

Rothman

A. J.

Titzmann

P. F.

Schachner

M. K.

Korn

Heinemeier

Betsch

(2018). Using attachment and relational perspectives to understand adaptation and resilience among immigrant and refugee youth. American Psychologist, 73(6), 797–811. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000286

20.

Khan

R. M.

Gharib Seif

(2024). In: Editors’ Introduction: Decoloniality, criticality, and abolition-can Critical Terrorism Studies remain “critical”? (Vol. 17, pp. 819–829): Taylor & Francis.

21.

Kim

(2025). The second generation’s perceptions of South Korea’s public support programs for multicultural families. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 48(6), 1218–1236. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2024.2436071

22.

Lahaie

(2020). Portrait socioculturel des élèves inscrits dans les écoles publiques de l’île de Montréal: Inscriptions au 8 novembre 2019. Comité de gestion de la taxe scolaire de l’Île de Montréal (CGTSIM).

23.

Lerias

Ziaian

Miller

Arthur

Augoustinos

Pir

(2025). The role of acculturative stress on the mental health of immigrant youth: A scoping literature review. Community Mental Health Journal, 61(3), 462–491. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-024-01351-x

24.

McAndrew

Audet

Bakhshaei

(2010). Immigration and diversity in Quebec’s schools: An assessment. In Rudy

Gervais

Kirkey

Neathery-Castro

J. L.

Rousseau

M. O.

(Eds.), Quebec questions: Quebec studies for the twenty-first century (pp. 287–304). Oxford University Press.

25.

Miconi

Aigoin

Croguennec

Johnson‐Lafleur

Rousseau

(2025). “It's all about making room for young people”: A mixed‐method study on adolescents' experiences of social adversity and support for violent radicalization in high schools. Journal of Research on Adolescence: The Official Journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence, 35(2), Article e70026. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.70026

26.

Miconi

Frounfelker

R. L.

Whiteley

Mekki-Berrada

Rousseau

(2021). Discrimination and sympathy for violent radicalization among college students in Quebec (Canada): The protective role of intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 209(10), 773–776. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000001405

27.

Miconi

Rousseau

(2021). Another way out: A positive youth development approach to the study of violent radicalization in Québec, Canada. In Dimitrova

Wiium

(Eds.), Handbook of positive youth development: Advancing research, policy, and practice in global contexts (pp. 415–429). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

28.

Mok

Morris

M. W.

(2009). Cultural chameleons and iconoclasts: Assimilation and reactance to cultural cues in biculturals’ expressed personalities as a function of identity conflict. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(4), 884–889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.04.004

29.

Mueller

Santavicca

Miconi

Rousseau

(2025). Interventions addressing current social polarization in the school context: A scoping review. The Journal of Early Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1177/02724316251352

30.

Navarro

J. L.

Tudge

J. R.

(2023). Technologizing bronfenbrenner: Neo-ecological theory. Current Psychology, 42(22), 19338–19354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02738-3

31.

Ozer

Obaidi

Anjum

(2023). Extreme reactions to globalization: Investigating indirect, longitudinal, and experimental effects of the globalization–radicalization nexus. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 50(12), Article 01461672231167694.

32.

Rousseau

(2019). Continuity and shifts in contemporary refugee history. In: An uncertain safety: integrative health care for the 21st cen-tury refugees (Vol. 9, pp, V–IX). Springer.

33.

Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) . (2018). Les crimes haineux ont atteint un sommet en août. [Hate crimes reached their peak last August]. https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/518298/mosquee

34.

Smeeth

Beck

Karam

E. G.

Pluess

(2021). The role of epigenetics in psychological resilience. The Lancet Psychiatry, 8(7), 620–629. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30515-0

35.

Steinberg

L. D.

(2014). Age of opportunity: Lessons from the new science of adolescence. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

36.

Stephens

Sieckelinck

(2020). Being resilient to radicalisation in PVE policy: A critical examination. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 13(1), 142–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2019.1658415

37.

St-Pierre

Tardif-Grenier

Marks

A. K.

Aude

(2024). Which coping strategies alleviate or perpetuate anxiety symptoms in the context of perceived ethnic discrimination in adolescents with an immigrant background? The Journal of Early Adolescence,, Article 02724316241250061. https://doi.org/10.1177/02724316241250061

38.

Titzmann

P. F.

Juang

L. P.

(2017). Immigrant adolescents: Opportunities and challenges. In: Emerging trends in the social and behavioral sciences: An interdisciplinary, searchable, and linkable resource (ed., 14, pp. 1). Wiley & Sons.

39.

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division . (2024). International migrant stock 2024. Retrieved 12 March from. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/international-migrant-stock

40.

Vang

Z. M.

Sigouin

Flenon

Gagnon

(2017). Are immigrants healthier than native-born Canadians? A systematic review of the healthy immigrant effect in Canada. Ethnicity and Health, 22(3), 209–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/13557858.2016.1246518

41.

Vigu

Tardif-Grenier

(2024). Social support among adolescents across immigrant generations: A mixed-methods study (pp. 02724316241265457). The Journal of Early Adolescence.

42.

Weale

(2023). ‘We see misogyny every day’: How Andrew Tate’s twisted ideology infiltrated British schools. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/feb/02/andrew-tate-twisted-ideology-infiltrated-british-schools

43.

Wolbring

Nguyen

(2023). Equity/equality, diversity and inclusion, and other EDI phrases and EDI policy frameworks: A scoping review. Trends in Higher Education, 2(1), 168–237. https://doi.org/10.3390/higheredu2010011

44.

Yoo

(2024). The dynamics of ego-resilience trajectories: Exploring the roles of individual, family, and school factors among multicultural early adolescents in South Korea. The Journal of Early Adolescence, Article 02724316241271341. https://doi.org/10.1177/02724316241271341

Navigating a Diverse and Globalized World: Pathways to Resilience Among Early Adolescents With an Immigrant Background Introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract

Keywords

Early Adolescent Immigrants in a Rapidly Changing and Uncertain World

A Plurality of Research Methods and Perspectives

A Rapid Overview of This Special Issue

Beyond the Challenges: Identifying Promising Avenues for Future Research and Intervention

Footnotes

ORCID iD

Funding

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Author Biography

References