An Integrative Risk and Resilience Model for Understanding the
Adaptation of Immigrant-Origin Children and Youth
Carola Suárez-Orozco
University of California, Los Angeles
Frosso Motti-Stefanidi
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Amy Marks
Suffolk University
Dalal Katsiaficas
University of Illinois at Chicago
We propose an integrative model for the adaptation of immigrant-origin children and youth
that combines ecological with risk and resilience frameworks. Immigrant-origin children and
youth are now, and will continue to be, a diverse and demographically important segment of
all postindustrial nations’ populations. Synthesizing evidence across psychological, educa-
tional, and sociological disciplines produced since the seminal publication of García Coll et
al.’s (1996) model, along with significant events such as a global refugee crisis, a sociopo-
litical “deportation nation” climate, and heightened xenophobia, we provide a model for
understanding the current conditions immigrant-origin children and youth encounter as they
develop. This new integrative conceptual model for addressing positive frameworks for
adaptation provides a culturally relevant approach for understanding both the risks and
resilience of this population. The model was designed to inform practice and future research
in the service of immigrant-origin children and youth.
Keywords: immigrant-origin children and youth, development, adaptation, risks and re-
sources, ecological settings
Migration is a defining characteristic of globalization.
During the past two decades, historically unprecedented and
rapid surges of migration have taken place. In 2015 there
were more than 240 million international migrants, approx-
imating 3.3% of the world’s population (United Nations
Children’s Fund, 2017). Many migrants left their home
countries for economic reasons, settling in relatively more
affluent Western countries (Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development [OECD], 2016). In recent
years, large numbers of people have fled war-stricken com-
munities to seek asylum in a new nation. Notably, as of
2016, over half of the 65.3 million displaced persons across
the globe were children and youth, a record high (United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR],
2016). It is clearly in the best interests of receiving nations
to promote the successful adaptation of their young immi-
grant populations. In the coming decades, it is projected that
immigrants and their children will become irreplaceable
forces in the economies of receiving societies and indis-
pensable for the future of care and support of rapidly aging
nonimmigrant populations (Suárez-Orozco & Qin-Hilliard,
2004).
Immigrant-origin children and youth (IOC&Y) are de-
fined as those who have at least one foreign-born parent.
They include both the first generation who were born out-
side the host country and second-generation immigrants
who were born within the host country (Child Trends, 2013;
Suárez-Orozco, Abo-Zena, & Marks, 2015). Refugee chil-
dren and youth, a legally distinct group, have had to flee
their countries because of “well-founded fear of persecution
for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a
particular social group or political opinion” (UNHCR,
Editor’s note. This article is part of a special issue, “New Directions in
Developmental Science With Youth Experiencing Marginalization,” pub-
lished in the September 2018 issue of American Psychologist. José M.
Causadias and Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor served as guest editors of the
special issue, with Jacquelynne S. Eccles as advisory editor.
Authors’ note. Carola Suárez-Orozco, Human Development & Psychol-
ogy, University of California, Los Angeles; Frosso Motti-Stefanidi, De-
partment of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens;
Amy Marks, Department of Psychology, Suffolk University; Dalal Katsia-
ficas, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at
Chicago.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Carola
Suárez-Orozco, Human Development & Psychology, University of Cali-
fornia, 1041B Moore Hall, Box 951521, Los Angeles, CA 90005-1521.
E-mail: csorozco@ucla.edu
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
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American Psychologist
© 2018 American Psychological Association 2018, Vol. 73, No. 6, 781–796
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