Anukam, Chinedu Collins, Udah, Chinyere, Udah, Hyacinth, and Francis, Abraham (2026) Resilience and coping strategies among migrant youth: a systematic review of the literature. Journal of Population Research, 43. 10.

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Abstract

The resilience of migrant youth is under-theorised and poorly understood, yet it is crucial for successful adaptation and integration. This systematic review examines the literature on resilience and coping strategies among migrant youth. A systematic search of four academic databases (Emerald Insight, Google Scholar, ProQuest, and Scopus) identified 1,273 studies, of which 20 met the eligibility criteria for inclusion. The studies were thematically analysed, and their methodological quality was assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tools. Findings indicate the importance of family, peers, community support, and personal agency in fostering resilience. Despite growing empirical evidence on the impacts of social networks on migrant youth’s resilience and well-being, there is a research gap regarding the role of family processes and parental mental health literacy in promoting resilience among migrant youth experiencing psychosocial externalising challenges. Our findings indicate a need to adopt an intersectional and ecological lens to fully understand migrant youth experiences, resilience and coping strategies. There is a need for more evidence on the effects of specific types of resilience on the adversity experienced by migrant youth. However, the scope and methodology of the included studies are limited, necessitating further research to elucidate how resilience and coping support the well-being of this population.

Item ID:	91217
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1835-9469
Keywords:	Adaptation and integration, Coping strategies, Mental health and wellbeing, Migrant and refugee youth, Resilience.
Copyright Information:	Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Date Deposited:	22 Apr 2026 01:40
FoR Codes:	44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4409 Social work > 440999 Social work not elsewhere classified @ 100%
SEO Codes:	13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1399 Other culture and society > 139999 Other culture and society not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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