By Santiago, C.D., et al. (Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago), News Medical & Life Sciences, Image: Unsplash via Crowdstack, January 23, 2025
The first randomized control trial of the school-based intervention called Supporting Transition Resilience of Newcomer Groups (STRONG) shows significant reductions in depression, anxiety and behavior problems among refugee and immigrant students. The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, was co-led by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and Loyola University, in partnership with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Results were published in the American Journal of Community Psychology.
STRONG is a trauma-informed mental health intervention for newcomer youth in kindergarten through 12th grade designed to support positive adjustment during resettlement and improve access to mental health services. It includes 10 weekly small group sessions and an individual session, with a focus on recognizing internal strengths, identifying social supports, practicing relaxation and mindfulness, developing cognitive coping and problem-solving skills, and fostering social belonging and cultural pride. STRONG is widely disseminated nationally and internationally.
"We are excited to provide robust scientific evidence that STRONG intervention achieves what it is designed to do – help newcomer students from diverse backgrounds feel more connected and emotionally resilient as they adjust to their new environment," said Co-Principal Investigator Tali Raviv, PhD, Director of School Mental Health at the Center for Childhood Resilience at Lurie Children's and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "As more communities welcome newcomer students, our research shows that expanding STRONG to more schools can foster positive integration and mental health."
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