Adolescent acculturation experiences: A meta-ethnography of qualitative research

• This meta-ethnography synthesizes qualitative studies of adolescent acculturation.
• A new perspective on current debates in acculturation research is offered.
• Acculturation presents particular challenges for adolescent migrants.
• Challenges vary across life domains, cultural context and individuals.
• Findings support and extend existing models of acculturation.

Acculturation occurs when people of different cultural backgrounds come into continuous, firsthand contact, as occurs following migration. Adolescents and young adults make up a large proportion of international migrants, yet there is little qualitative research available on their experiences when engaging with the process of acculturative change. This meta-ethnography synthesizes published qualitative studies of adolescent acculturation to draw together findings on this important developmental issue. A literature search was conducted to identify qualitative studies that have investigated acculturation among adolescent migrant youth. Eleven different studies were identified, most of which involved immigrants to the U.S. These were reviewed using the meta-ethnographic research process. We identified four themes to represent how adolescents engaged with the process of acculturation, integrated using a line-of-argument. While broadly consistent with existing acculturation frameworks, our findings highlight domain-specificity, structural and socio-historical challenges, personal meaning-making, and opportunities for personal growth as emergent features in the qualitative literature. The line-of-argument is used to critique and extend the dominant conceptual frameworks on acculturation from a contextual perspective.