Resilience and traumatic stress among Latinx english language learners: a cross-sectional study of students from an urban school district

TL;DR

This study explores how English Language Learner status affects resilience and traumatic stress among Latinx students in an urban school district.

Contribution

The study identifies resilience assets among Latinx ELL students, particularly those at high risk for traumatic stress.

Findings

ELL students with low traumatic stress risk showed better problem solving but worse self-efficacy than non-ELL peers.

High-risk ELL students demonstrated stronger resilience assets like problem solving and perceived school support compared to non-ELL peers.

Resilience among ELL Latinx students may be amplified under high traumatic stress risk.

Abstract

Latinx students in the United States can face stressors and structural inequities that can lead to poor academic and mental health outcomes. They comprise 76% of the English Language Learner (ELL) population, yet little is known about the relationship between ELL status and traumatic stress and resilience outcomes among these Latinx students. We sought to see if resilience differs between ELL vs. non-ELL Latinx students, and if traumatic stress risk modifies the association between ELL designation and resilience among Latinx students to inform culturally relevant school resilience interventions and school-wide approaches for this population.

We analyzed deidentified school district administrative and survey data from a convenience sample of mostly Latinx 6-12th graders from one large, urban U.S. school district. We restricted our sample to Latinx students, resulting in a sample of 4,950 students attending 91 middle and high schools. We constructed linear regression models to understand differences in internal and external resilience based on ELL status, traumatic stress risk, and their interaction.

Among students with low traumatic stress risk, ELL students had worse self-efficacy but better problem solving than their non-ELL peers. When considering students with high traumatic stress risk, ELL students had better problem solving, self-awareness, perceived school support, and total internal assets, relative to non-ELL students.

Latinx students designated as ELL may demonstrate resilience despite adversity; these resilience assets may be further amplified among the subset of students at high risk for traumatic stress. Our findings may inform school resilience interventions and school supports for ELL Latinx students.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-025-23105-4.

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