Immigrant Youth Adaptation and Risk Involvement: The Case of Immigrant Youth From France and the Former Soviet Union in Israel.

This article examines the adaptation experiences and risk behaviors of immigrant youth at risk who moved to Israel from France and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Through qualitative interviews with 21 youth and six practitioners, the study identifies adaptation as a multilevel process involving individual identity formation, parent–child and peer relationships, and school integration, all influenced by the youths' cultural origins. French immigrant youth primarily identify with their Jewish heritage and aspire to integrate into Israeli society, while FSU youth maintain strong Russian/Ukrainian identities and show less connection to Israel, which affects their adaptation and risk involvement differently. Practitioners highlight challenges such as parental coping difficulties, peer rejection, and inadequate school support as factors increasing vulnerability to risk behaviors, underscoring the need for culturally tailored pre- and post-migration interventions and educational policies to support immigrant youth's constructive adaptation.