Rebuilding life after migration: Research protocol of a mixed methods study on settlement experiences of refugee and migrant youth

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 18; no. 4; p. e0285023
• Main Authors: Ziaian, Tahereh, Puvimanasinghe, Teresa, Miller, Emily, Augoustinos, Martha, Esterman, Adrian, Baddeley, Michelle, Arthur, Nancy, de Anstiss, Helena, Tsoulis, Eugenia, Stewart-Jones, Tamara, Ghassemi, Effat, Pir, Tara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 28-04-2023; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acculturation; Adolescent; Adolescent development; Adolescents; Analysis; Biology and Life Sciences; Caregivers; Displaced persons; Emigration and immigration; Employment; Families & family life; Family; Focus Groups; Health aspects; Humans; Immigration; Imports; Laws, regulations, etc; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental health; Methods; Migrants; Migration; Mixed methods research; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Ontario; Parents; People and Places; Population; Qualitative Research; Refugees; Research and Analysis Methods; Research responses; Responses; Social aspects; Social Sciences; Society; South Australia; Stress; Study Protocol; Surveys; Teenagers; Transients and Migrants; Trauma; Well being; Young adults; Youth; Ontario; South Australia; Australia; Canada; United Kingdom; California; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285023

Internationally, there is an urgent need to understand factors promoting successful settlement and integration of people with forced or voluntary migration experiences (i.e., refugee and non-refugee migrants). This paper provides a protocol of a mixed-methods investigation of contextual factors of successful settlement and service utilization of youth and their families, as young people could be at higher risk due to stressors associated with pre-migration trauma, post-migration settlement stressors, and adolescent development. This large-scale mixed-methods study will be conducted across three countries. A questionnaire survey will seek responses from 1200 youth aged 15-24 years residing in South Australia, Ontario, Canada, and California, United States of America. The qualitative component of the study will comprise 54 focus groups (324 participants) with youth and their parents/caregivers. The study design allows a range of important phenomena (e.g., different migration pathways and settlement countries) and key questions (e.g., regarding the intersection of migration, settlement, and wellbeing) to be addressed. It also allows for generalizability of findings to be tested across different communities and countries. Findings will support recommendations for policy and practice and may be generalized to advance research with youth and their families. This study is one of the largest, most comprehensive studies of youth settlement.