Arabic-speaking refugee youth in Germany at the nexus of adversity and adaptation

Arabic-speaking refugee youth constitute one of the largest refugee youth groups in Europe in general and in Germany in particular. In the summer of 2015, Germany witnessed the highest number of asylum applications on record during what was named the “Long Summer of Migration”. Refugees from Arabic-speaking countries represented the largest group of arrivals, almost half of them were under the age of 18. Research that adopted a strength-based perspective with this population was limited. Consequently, the overarching goal of this dissertation was to bridge this gap and explore different aspects of refugee youth experiences. To contextualize refugee youth experiences and plan this research project, I integrated different lines of research including social, developmental, cultural, and clinical psychology in addition to behavioural psychology and behavioural economics. Specifically, I aimed to explore Arabic-speaking refugee youth’s coping, resilience and preferences, and investigate their associations with adverse experiences and mental health symptoms. The first research aim (chapter 2) was to examine post-migration challenges and coping of refugee youth. To achieve this aim, I utilized a qualitative design and conducted semi-structured interviews. This qualitative dataset was collected with 14- to 18-year-old Arabic-speaking refugee participants in Berlin and Potsdam (N= 20, 7 female) and analysed using thematic analysis. The main reported challenges were related to psychological wellbeing, school, friendship, accommodation, and discrimination. Participants coped with these challenges by relying on social support (friends, family, social services) and their inner resources (through avoidance, persistence, activity seeking, active engagement). The second research aim (chapter 3) was to utilise an ecological perspective of refugee youth resilience to investigate relations with socio-demographic variables, in addition to testing the association between resilience, mental health symptoms, and potentially traumatic exposure. To achieve this aim, I drew on a cross-sectional dataset collected in schools in Berlin with 14- to 19-year-old Arabic-speaking refugee (N=103, 54 female). The number of close friends emerged as the only socio-demographic variable to relate to resilience, furthermore resilience was inversely related to both depression and PTSD symptoms. The final research aim (chapter 4) was to explore the different associations between mental health (depression symptoms and PTSD symptoms), potentially traumatic exposure, and refugee youth preferences (risk, patience, and social preferences). Drawing on the same quantitative dataset, PTSD symptoms, but not traumatic exposure or depression symptoms, were significantly related to increased risk preferences. However, no significant relation was found for patience, altruism, trust, positive reciprocity, or negative reciprocity. This empirical research project offered detailed insights into the experiences of Arabic-speaking refugee youth, examining both individual and contextual factors. It revealed potentially traumatic events and post-migration stressors commonly faced by this group. Furthermore, the study highlighted the importance of social networks in supporting Arabic-speaking refugee youth coping and resilience.Arabischsprachige geflüchtete Jugendliche stellen eine der größten Gruppen von geflüchteten Jugendlichen in Europa und insbesondere in Deutschland dar. Während des sogenannten "langen Sommers der Migration" verzeichnete Deutschland die höchste Anzahl von Asylanträgen. Geflüchtete aus arabischsprachigen Ländern stellten die größte Gruppe von Ankommenden dar, von denen etwa die Hälfte unter 18 Jahre alt war. Es gibt allerding nur wenig Forschung zu dieser Zielgruppe, die eine ressourcenbasierte Perspektive einnimmt. Daher bestand das übergeordnete Ziel dieser Dissertation darin, diese Lücke zu schließen und verschiedene Aspekte der Erfahrungen geflüchteter Jugendlicher zu untersuchen. Um die Erfahrungen geflüchteter Jugendlicher zu kontextualisieren und dieses Forschungsprojekt zu planen, wurden verschiedene Forschungslinien, darunter Sozial-, Entwicklungs-, Kultur- und klinische Psychologie sowie Verhaltenspsychologie und Verhaltensökonomie zusammengeführt. Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation war es, Bewältigung, Resilienz und Präferenzen von arabischsprachigen geflüchteten Jugendlichen zu erforschen und deren Zusammenhang mit belastenden Erfahrungen und psychischen Symptomen zu untersuchen. Das erste Forschungsziel (Kapitel 2) bestand darin, die Herausforderungen nach der Migration und die Bewältigungsstrategien geflüchteter Jugendlicher zu untersuchen. Hierfür wurden mithilfe eines qualitativen Ansatzes halbstrukturierte Interviews durchgeführt. Die qualitative Datensammlung erfolgte mit 14- bis 18-jährigen arabischsprachigen geflüchteten Teilnehmenden in Berlin und Potsdam (N=20, 7 weiblich) und wurde mittels thematischer Analyse ausgewertet. Die am Häufigsten berichteten Herausforderungen waren mit dem psychischen Wohlbefinden, der Schule, Freundschaften, Unterkunft und Diskriminierung verbunden. Die Teilnehmenden bewältigten diese Herausforderungen durch soziale Unterstützung (Freunde, Familie, soziale Dienste) und ihre persönlichen Ressourcen (durch Vermeidung, Ausdauer, Aktivitätssuche und aktive Beteiligung). Das zweite Forschungsziel (Kapitel 3) bestand darin, eine sozioökologischePerspektive der Resilienz geflüchteter Jugendlicher zu nutzen, um Zusammenhänge mit soziodemografischen Variablen zu untersuchen sowie den Zusammenhang zwischen Resilienz, psychischen Symptomen und potenziell traumatischen Erfahrungen zu untersuchen. Hierfür wurden an Berliner Schulen querschnittliche Daten von 14- bis 19-jährigen arabischsprachigen geflüchteten Jugendlichen erhoben (N=103, 54 weiblich). Die Anzahl enger Freunde erwies sich als einzige soziodemografische Variable, die mit Resilienz in Verbindung stand. Darüber hinaus war Resilienz invers mit sowohl Depressionssymptomen als auch PTBS-Symptomen assoziiert. Das letzte Forschungsziel (Kapitel 4) bestand darin, die verschiedenen Zusammenhänge zwischen psychischer Gesundheit (Depressionssymptome und PTBS-Symptome), potenziell traumatischer Exposition und den Präferenzen geflüchteter Jugendlicher (Risiko, Geduld und soziale Präferenzen) zu untersuchen. Unter Verwendung desselben quantitativen Datensatzes zeigte sich, dass PTBS-Symptome, aber nicht traumatische Exposition oder Depressionssymptome, signifikant mit erhöhten Risikopräferenzen verbunden waren. Es wurde jedoch kein signifikanter Zusammenhang mit Geduld, Altruismus, Vertrauen, positiver Reziprozität oder negativer Reziprozität festgestellt. Die vorliegende Dissertation erlaubt detaillierte Einblicke in die Erfahrungen arabischsprachiger geflüchteter Jugendlicher und untersucht sowohl individuelle als auch kontextuelle Faktoren. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen potenziell traumatische Ereignisse und postmigratorische Belastungen, denen diese Gruppe häufig ausgesetzt ist. Darüber hinaus betont die Studie die Bedeutung sozialer Netzwerke für die Bewältigung und Resilienz arabischsprachiger geflüchteter Jugendlicher

Challenges and Coping: Perspectives of Syrian and Iraqi Refugee Youth in Germany

Refugee youth constitute around a third of the refugee population in Germany. We studied the experiences of newly arrived Syrian and Iraqi refugee youth, aged 14 to 18 years (N = 20), in Germany. We utilized semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to investigate (a) the main challenges faced by youth and (b) their main coping resources to deal with these challenges. We grouped challenges into three levels: the individual level, the immediate social level, and the broader societal level. The most frequently mentioned challenges in our sample related to psychological wellbeing, school, friendship, accommodation, and discrimination. Youth reported relying on social support (friends, family, social services) and on themselves (through avoidance, persistence, activity seeking, active engagement) to cope with their challenges. Our findings provide insights into refugee youth’s experiences in Germany, encompassing the acculturative, developmental, and generational aspects of their lives and demonstrating their coping and resilience. We discuss our results in relation to the literature on refugee youth in high income countries

With a little help from my friends? Acculturation and mental health in Arabic-speaking refugee youth living with their families

Introduction: Refugee youth are often faced with the compounding challenges of heightened exposure to traumatic events and acculturating to a new country during a developmental period when their sense of self is still forming. This study investigated whether refugee youth’s acculturation orientation (separation, integration, marginalization, and assimilation) is associated with depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms and aimed to identify additional indicators of acculturation that may contribute to mental health. Methods: A total of 101 Arabic-speaking refugee youths (aged 14–20 years), who were living with their families and attending school in Germany, took part in the study. They answered questions concerning traumatic exposure and posttraumatic stress symptoms, depressive symptoms, and several indicators of acculturation, including cultural orientation, positive and negative intra- and intergroup contact, language skills and friendship networks. All participants were categorized into one of four acculturation orientations using median splits. Results: Kruskal–Wallis rank sum tests revealed that acculturation orientation was not significantly associated with depressive symptoms [χ2 (3, 97) = 0.519, p = 0.915] or posttraumatic stress symptoms [χ2 (3, 97) = 0.263, p = 0.967]. Regression analysis revealed that German language skills were significantly associated with lower scores of depressive symptoms (p = 0.016) and number of friends in Germany was significantly associated with lower scores of depressive (p = 0.006) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (p = 0.002), respectively. Discussion: Policies that provide refugee youth with access to language classes and social activities with peers do not only enable them to actively participate in a new society but may also have a positive effect on their mental health

The Molecular and Cellular Strategies of Glioblastoma and Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Cells Conferring Radioresistance

Ionizing radiation (IR) has been shown to play a crucial role in the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM; grade IV) and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Nevertheless, recent studies have indicated that radiotherapy can offer only palliation owing to the radioresistance of GBM and NSCLC. Therefore, delineating the major radioresistance mechanisms may provide novel therapeutic approaches to sensitize these diseases to IR and improve patient outcomes. This review provides insights into the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying GBM and NSCLC radioresistance, where it sheds light on the role played by cancer stem cells (CSCs), as well as discusses comprehensively how the cellular dormancy/non-proliferating state and polyploidy impact on their survival and relapse post-IR exposure

“They are my safe haven”: The Importance of Personal and Social Resources for Refugee Youth and Youth of Immigrant Descent Mastering Acculturative Challenges and Developmental Tasks

Immigrant-origin youth in Germany are faced with various acculturative challenges, including discrimination, language, and sociocultural hassles. Constituting additional stress to normative developmental tasks in adolescence, immigrant-origin youth are in need of supportive resources fostering their well-being. Drawing on the risk and resilience framework and applying a strength-based perspective, the current study investigated refugee youth’s and youth of immigrant descents’ perspectives on their main challenges, tasks, and resources in Germany. The present study paid special attention to the interplay of acculturative challenges and developmental tasks in relation to the youth’s resources and their psychological well-being. Semi-structured interviews with six refugee youth and five second-generation youth of immigrant descent including nine boys and two girls between the ages of 14 – 16 (Mage = 15.45, SDage = 0.69) were analyzed. Using thematic analysis, data was structured in four themes: 1) acculturative challenges, 2) developmental tasks, 3) personal resources, and 4) social resources. Results highlight the importance of personal (incl., individual characteristics, identity, religion) and social (incl., supportive friends, family, teachers) resources to master the range of acculturative challenges (incl., language barriers, perceived ethnic and religious discrimination, cultural differences) and developmental tasks (incl., negotiation of autonomy, academic future planning). In addition, results indicate the importance of social resources for refugee youth and youth of immigrant descent when dealing with discriminatory experiences. Our findings offer practical implications for schools in terms of interventions focusing on both the strengthening of personal and social resources, and the reduction of challenges to promote immigrant-origin youth’s psychological well-being

Long-Term Cultured Human Glioblastoma Multiforme Cells Demonstrate Increased Radiosensitivity and Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype in Response to Irradiation

The overall effect of senescence on cancer progression and cancer cell resistance to X-ray radiation (IR) is still not fully understood and remains controversial. How to induce tumor cell senescence and which senescent cell characteristics will ensure the safest therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment are under extensive investigation. While the evidence for passage number-related effects on malignant primary cells or cell lines is compelling, much less is known about how the changes affect safety and Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP), both of which are needed for the senescence cell-based vaccine to be effective against cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of repeated passaging on the biological (self-renewal capacity and radioresistance) and functional (senescence) characteristics of the different populations of short- and long-term passaging glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells responding to senescence-inducing DNA-damaging IR stress. For this purpose, we compared radiobiological effects of X-ray exposure on two isogenic human U87 cell lines: U87L, minimally cultured cells (3 years of continuous culturing after obtaining from the ATCC). U87L cells displayed IR dose-related changes in the signs of IR stress-induced premature senescence. These included an increase in the proportion of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-Gal)-positive cells, and concomitant decrease in the proportion of Ki67-positive cells and metabolically active cells. However, reproductive survival of irradiated short-term cultured U87L cells was higher compared to long-term cultured U87H cells, as the clonogenic activity results demonstrated. In contrast, the irradiated long-term cultured U87H cells possessed dose-related increases in the proportion of multinucleated giant cancer cells (MGCCs), while demonstrating higher radiosensitivity (lower self-renewal) and a significantly reduced fraction of DNA-replicating cells compared to short-term cultured U87L cells. Conditioned culture medium from U87H cells induced a significant rise of SA-β-Gal staining in U87L cells in a paracrine manner suggesting inherent SASP. Our data suggested that low-dose irradiated long-term cultured GBM cells might be a safer candidate for a recently proposed senescence cell-based vaccine against cancer

Long-Term Cultured Human Glioblastoma Multiforme Cells Demonstrate Increased Radiosensitivity and Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype in Response to Irradiation

The overall effect of senescence on cancer progression and cancer cell resistance to X-ray radiation (IR) is still not fully understood and remains controversial. How to induce tumor cell senescence and which senescent cell characteristics will ensure the safest therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment are under extensive investigation. While the evidence for passage number-related effects on malignant primary cells or cell lines is compelling, much less is known about how the changes affect safety and Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP), both of which are needed for the senescence cell-based vaccine to be effective against cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of repeated passaging on the biological (self-renewal capacity and radioresistance) and functional (senescence) characteristics of the different populations of short- and long-term passaging glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells responding to senescence-inducing DNA-damaging IR stress. For this purpose, we compared radiobiological effects of X-ray exposure on two isogenic human U87 cell lines: U87L, minimally cultured cells (<15 passages after obtaining from the ATCC) and U87H, long-term cultured cells (>3 years of continuous culturing after obtaining from the ATCC). U87L cells displayed IR dose-related changes in the signs of IR stress-induced premature senescence. These included an increase in the proportion of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-Gal)-positive cells, and concomitant decrease in the proportion of Ki67-positive cells and metabolically active cells. However, reproductive survival of irradiated short-term cultured U87L cells was higher compared to long-term cultured U87H cells, as the clonogenic activity results demonstrated. In contrast, the irradiated long-term cultured U87H cells possessed dose-related increases in the proportion of multinucleated giant cancer cells (MGCCs), while demonstrating higher radiosensitivity (lower self-renewal) and a significantly reduced fraction of DNA-replicating cells compared to short-term cultured U87L cells. Conditioned culture medium from U87H cells induced a significant rise of SA-β-Gal staining in U87L cells in a paracrine manner suggesting inherent SASP. Our data suggested that low-dose irradiated long-term cultured GBM cells might be a safer candidate for a recently proposed senescence cell-based vaccine against cancer

Polyploid/Multinucleated Giant and Slow-Cycling Cancer Cell Enrichment in Response to X-ray Irradiation of Human Glioblastoma Multiforme Cells Differing in Radioresistance and TP53/PTEN Status

Radioresistance compromises the efficacy of radiotherapy for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most devastating and common brain tumor. The present study investigated the relationship between radiation tolerance and formation of polyploid/multinucleated giant (PGCC/MGCC) and quiescent/senescent slow-cycling cancer cells in human U-87, LN-229, and U-251 cell lines differing in TP53/PTEN status and radioresistance. We found significant enrichment in MGCC populations of U-87 and LN-229 cell lines, and generation of numerous small mononuclear (called Raju cells, or RJ cells) U-87-derived cells that eventually form cell colonies, in a process termed neosis, in response to X-ray irradiation (IR) at single acute therapeutic doses of 2–6 Gy. For the first time, single-cell high-content imaging and analysis of Ki-67- and EdU-coupled fluorescence demonstrated that the IR exposure dose-dependently augments two distinct GBM cell populations. Bifurcation of Ki-67 staining suggests fast-cycling and slow-cycling populations with a normal-sized nuclear area, and with an enlarged nuclear area, including one resembling the size of PGCC/MGCCs, that likely underlie the highest radioresistance and propensity for repopulation of U-87 cells. Proliferative activity and anchorage-independent survival of GBM cell lines seem to be related to neosis, low level of apoptosis, fraction of prematurely stress-induced senescent MGCCs, and the expression of p63 and p73, members of p53 family transcription factors, but not to the mutant p53. Collectively, our data support the importance of the TP53wt/PTENmut genotype for the maintenance of cycling radioresistant U-87 cells to produce a significant amount of senescent MGCCs as an IR stress-induced adaptation response to therapeutic irradiation doses