The Role of Refugee Children’s Host Country Language in Their Resilience to Resettlement: A Longitudinal and Within-Family Study on Syrian Children’s Early Adaptation in Canada

One hundred twenty-six children (between 6 and 13 years) in 71 families who were resettled in Canada, as a result of the Syrian Civil War, were followed up over 3 years, using a sibling comparison, longitudinal design. This design allowed us to test the hypothesis that host country receptive language competence (L2) protects refugee children's mental health in families with limited resources (low parental education, large family size). The sibling comparison design unconfounded within- and between-family processes. Results using multilevel growth curve modeling showed that children's externalizing behavior started high and decreased over the 3 years of study. Receptive L2 was found to protect refugee children from the risks of low parental education and large family size while ruling out the possibility that this protective process occurred between families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).