Underrepresented Voices: Positive Youth Development among Vulnerable Minority Children and Youth in Times of Pandemic

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting youth development globally. Ethnic and racial minorities are disproportionately exposed to the virus and affected by the pandemic due to systemic social and economic disparities (Raifman & Raifman, 2020). Yet, empirical investigations on how at-risk minority youth are coping with the present pandemic to shed light on the developmental assets that can boost their positive development during these uncertain times are lacking.

Drawing on samples from three different European countries, this symposium brings together three presentations aimed at investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable children and youth in a Positive Youth Development (PYD; Benson, 2007) perspective. The studies involve minority, refugee, and asylum-seeking samples and are based on different methodological approaches.

Study 1 presents a longitudinal quantitative study which examines how the lockdown impacted at-risk refugee and Roma school-aged children’s academic and socio-emotional adjustment in deprived urban districts in Germany. Study 2 adopts a qualitative design to explore how the pandemic influenced Roma and Egyptian minority adolescents’ personal and contextual assets in Albania. Study 3 investigates young adult asylum seekers’ psychosocial adjustment and future orientation before and during the lockdown in Italy using a mixed-methods approach.

A leader in PYD with experience in transnational studies will integrate findings to shed light on resources and opportunities that can promote refugee and minority youth’s positive development. Research and practical implications to ensure that the needs of vulnerable children and youth are adequately addressed during and in the aftermath of the pandemic will be discussed.

Sub Unit

• Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Chair

• Diana Miconi, McGill University

Discussant

• Nora Wiium, University of Bergen

Individual Presentations

• Impact of COVID-19 School Lockdown on Recently Immigrated Roma and Refugee School-Aged Children in Germany - Presenting Author: Birgit Leyendecker, Ruhr University Bochum; Non-Presenting Author: Julian Busch, Ruhr-Universität Bochum

• Navigating the COVID-19 Storm: Roma and Egyptian Adolescent Minorities’ Developmental Assets in Albania - Presenting Author: Diana Miconi, McGill University; Non-Presenting Author: Eglantina Dervishi, university of Tirana

• Psychosocial Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Young Adult Asylum Seekers in Italy - Presenting Author: Chiara Ceccon, Università degli Studi di Padova (UNIPD); Non-Presenting Author: Ughetta Moscardino, Università degli Studi di Padova (UNIPD)