Adaptation During a Great Economic Recession: A Cohort Study of Greek and Immigrant Youth

This study examined how Greek and immigrant youth adapted to school life during the economic recession in Greece. Two cohorts of adolescents (Mage = 12.6 years) were compared, one assessed before the crisis and the other during the crisis (N = 1,057 and 1,052, respectively). Cohort findings were disaggregated by immigrant status, generation, and ethnic group. Crisis-cohort youth experienced more economic problems, displayed worse conduct, higher levels of absenteeism, and lower self-efficacy than precrisis youth. The cohorts did not differ in well-being, school engagement, and academic achievement. Most crisis-cohort groups showed a pervasive increase in conduct problems compared to the precrisis cohort. However, some of these groups also showed an increase in academic achievement. The title for this Special Section is Positive Youth Development in Diverse and Global Contexts, edited by Emilie Phillips Smith, Anne C.