To Örebro University

Background: Most existing programs for newcomer immigrant youth primarily target those potentially at risk for mental health issues such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety problems. PIA Youth Program, a dissonance-based intervention, takes a universal approach to address the broader needs of newly arrived youth who may encounter challenges with both acculturative and developmental changes. The program aims to help youth to develop new perspectives, identify their resources, and set goals for the future and to overcome their challenges. As pilot tests suggested feasibility and potential positive outcomes, a randomized controlled trial is underway. This presentation focuses on experiences, challenges, and strengths of the implementation process of the RCT, based on leaders’ session evaluations, completed after each session.

Method: Using a mixed-method approach, we analyzed 12 leaders’ responses to closed questions and reflections to open ended questions to report their experiences of running 14 intervention groups.

Results: Leaders rated the implementation quality on a scale from 1 to 10. The ratings indicated high participant engagement in discussions (M=7.86), high quality delivery of the content (M=8.36) and comprehensive coverage of the content (M=9.33) throughout the program, suggesting high overall implementation quality. The thematic analysis of the responses to open ended questions yielded two themes: perceived strengths and challenges in implementation. Strengths were identified in relation to the program material and relatable examples during discussions in sessions. On the other hand, challenges were mostly related to time management, technical difficulties, and variation in level of participation. Challenges decreased by more than 30% after the second session probably due to the difficulties arising from administering the pre-test in conjunction to the first session.

Discussion: The results underscore the importance of well-developed material and program structure ahead of implementing an intervention to ensure high quality implementation process.