Using an ecological framework, the authors explore the reasons for peer discrimination and harassment reported by many Chinese American youth. They draw on longitudinal data collected on 120 first- and second-generation Chinese American students from two studies conducted in Boston and New York. Our analyses suggested that reasons for these experiences of harassment lay with the beliefs about academic ability, the students' immigrant status and language barriers, within-group conflicts, and their physical appearance that made them different from other ethnic minority or majority students. Implications and future research are also discussed.

The Lost Boys of Sudan were separated from their families by civil war and subsequently lived in 3 other countries-Ethiopia, Kenya, and the United States. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 refugees who located surviving family members in Sudan after an average separation of 13.7 years. The interviews probed their experiences of ambiguous loss, relationships in the refugee camps, the search for family, and reestablishing relationships with family members living on another continent. With guidance from elders, peer groups functioned as surrogate families until the youth reestablished relationships with surviving members of their biological families.

This study explores the adaptation of unaccompanied Sudanese refugee minors resettled in the US. Seven years after resettlement, in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 Sudanese youths and 20 foster parents regarding factors that contributed to successful adaptation. The youths emphasized personal agency and staying focused on getting an education. Foster parents emphasized the contribution of youths' developmental histories to individual differences in personal attributes that, with contextual supports, influenced their trajectories after resettlement. Parents and youths differed in their views on the role that mental health and cultural obligations to family members in Africa played in successful adaptation.Children who immigrate to a new country with their families experience many challenges (Suarez-Orozco et al., 2006). Among these are adjusting to a new culture, often learning a new language, adapting to unfamiliar schools, forming new peer relationships and rethinking their identity and roles. Refugee children face additional challenges related to their war experiences and exposure to trauma (Lustig et al., 2004;Shaw, 2003), and unaccompanied minors, who resettle without their parents, are a small but particularly vulnerable group of refugee children. In the US, they are resettled in foster families and receive help until the age of 21 or sometimes 23. This study focuses on Sudanese unaccompanied minors, known in the media as the Lost Boys of Sudan, and addresses the research question: What factors contribute to individual differences in adaptation among these youths following resettlement? Of particular interest are factors related to successful adaptation.

The Lost Boys of Sudan were separated from their families by civil war and subsequently lived in three other countries-Ethiopia, Kenya, and the United States. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 refugees about their experiences of separation from parents and ambiguous loss, and the coping strategies the youth used when they did not know if other members of their family were dead or alive. All of the youth reported using both emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies. The youth also discussed the importance of support from peers and elders while they lived in the refugee camps. In addition, they reflected on the psychological presence of parents who were physically absent, and the important role that hope of being reunited with parents played as they struggled with survival issues and ambiguous loss.

Chinese American students are often perceived as problem‐free high achievers. Recent research, however, suggests that high‐achieving Chinese American students can experience elevated levels of stress, especially comparing to their peers from other ethnic groups. In this paper, we examine how family dynamics may influence psychological adjustment among a group of high‐achieving adolescents. Drawing on survey data collected on 295 Chinese American and 192 European American 9th graders attending a highly selective magnet school, our findings show that Chinese American adolescents reported significantly lower levels of psychological adjustment (d = −.31), and significantly less family cohesion (d = −.34) and more conflict (d = .56) than their European American peers. Further, the ethnic differences on adjustment disappeared after controlling for perceptions of family cohesion and conflict, indicating that such perceptions may be a key factor in understanding the high academic achievement/low psychological adjustment paradoxical pattern of development among Chinese American adolescents.