Abstract: Supporting Social Emotional Learning and Wellbeing of Displaced Adolescents from the Middle East: A Pilot Evaluation of the ‘Forward with Peers’ Intervention (Society for Social Work and Research 28th Annual Conference - Recentering & Democratizing Knowledge: The Next 30 Years of Social Work Science)
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Supporting Social Emotional Learning and Wellbeing of Displaced Adolescents from the Middle East: A Pilot Evaluation of the ‘Forward with Peers’ Intervention

Schedule:
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Independence BR A, ML 4 (Marriott Marquis Washington DC)
* noted as presenting author
Ilana Seff, DrPH, Research Assistant Professor, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Lindsay Stark, DrPH, Associate Professor of Social Work and Public Health, Washington University in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO
Ali Ali, MSW Candidate, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Danielle Sarraf, Research Manager, Washington University in Saint Louis
Wafa Hassan, Arabic Department Director, Global Education Excellence
Carine Allaf, Senior Programs Advisor, Qatar Foundation International, DC
Background: First- and second-generation Arab immigrants and refugees from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) face a constellation of intersecting risk factors for poor mental health and educational outcomes in the U.S. A growing literature points to the critical role schools can play in promoting healthy development, improved psychosocial wellbeing, and enhanced resilience among this population, but few evaluations have examined the feasibility and effectiveness of culturally adapted, school-based interventions.

Aim: We conducted a pilot evaluation of a culturally adapted social and emotional learning and life skills program, Forward with Peers (FwP), and examined its potential effectiveness for first- and second-generation immigrant and refugee students from the MENA region.

Methods: FwP was evaluated across three high schools in the Detroit Metropolitan Area. Within each school, one Arabic class was randomly assigned to receive FwP programming and another served as a control arm. The pilot evaluation sought to examine changes in several mental health and psychosocial outcomes of interest, including resilience, suicide ideation, loneliness, social support, hope, and school belonging.

Results: Improvements in overall perceived social support (P=0.045) and perceived social support from someone special in one’s life (0.042) were statistically significant in the treatment as compared to the control group. Comparative improvements were also marginally significant for resilience (P=0.095) and perceived social support from family (P=0.074). The analysis further showed non-significant marginal decreases in loneliness and suicide ideation, and improvements in school belonging.

Conclusion: Findings highlight the potential of FwP and support the growing interest in establishing efficacy of school-based, culturally appropriate SEL programming to improve psychosocial wellbeing among Arab refugee and immigrant adolescents.

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