Till Örebro universitet

Over 190,000, or 8 %, of under eighteens in Sweden were born in another country. Many come from the Middle East and Africa and there is a considerable diversity of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. As most young immigrants are unlikely to return to their homelands there are compelling reasons to better understand the conditions pertinent to these youths’ wellbeing and acculturation. This mixed methods dissertation therefore aimed to develop knowledge about how wellbeing and acculturation among newly arrived Middle Eastern and African immigrant youth in Sweden can be understood and promoted. The dissertation comprises three studies investigating immigrant youth resilience, wellbeing, and acculturation from global, national, individual, and applied perspectives. Study I is a systematic review and meta-analysis of psychosocial promotion and prevention interventions targeting psychological health, wellbeing, or resilience among forced migrant children and youth throughout the world. Study II is a qualitative thematic analysis examining acculturation goals and indications of psychological resilience in response to the contextual risk and resources described by newly arrived Middle Eastern and African youth when recalling their early experiences in Sweden. Study III is a comparative Delphi study examining newly arrived youths’ and youth workers’ perspectives on activities to promote acculturation and wellbeing in youths’ social- and cultural integration process. Cumulatively, these studies contribute to the conceptual understanding of youth acculturation as a resource intensive process that requires reciprocity from dominant society throughout multiple socioecological systems if youth are to succeed in reaching their acculturation goals, maintain resilience, and experience long-term wellbeing.