Engaging for change: the influence of civic engagement on at-risk Arab minority youth in Israel

Aims: This study examined how an organized civic engagement program affected socially excluded young Arab adults in Israel, who face systemic discrimination, political alienation, and socioeconomic disparities. Method: = 2.04, 57% women) from the Meidad Enterprise-Social Engagement project. Using a longitudinal pre-post design with repeated MANOVA analyses, we assessed changes in civic attitudes, behaviors, and wellbeing. Additionally, K-means cluster analyses, with repeated-measures MANOVAs, measured civic engagement gains among subgroups based on baseline wellbeing, depression, and loneliness. Results: = 0.08). Participants with higher self-reported depressive symptoms and loneliness, in addition to lower levels of self-worth, life satisfaction, meaning, and hope, demonstrated the most pronounced improvements over time. Conclusion: Findings suggest organized civic engagement could benefit marginalized minority youth, especially those with moderate psychopathology and low wellbeing.