<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">


<bold>Background</bold>: The number of immigrants has been increasing. Immigrant adolescents experience an acculturation process that affects particularly their ethnic identity, perceived discrimination, and relationships with their peers, which would have significant impact on their mental health. The ethnic composition of social environments might affect this relationship.

<bold>Objective:</bold> The main purpose of the current research is to examine the effect of peer attachment, social support, ethnic identity, and perceived discrimination on immigrant adolescents’ mental health.

<bold>Method:</bold> The sample included 226 Syrian immigrants (X̄
age = 13.31, SD=1.67, 70.8 % girls). Adolescents live in a homogenous social environment where proportion of Syrian is higher. Two hierarchical regression models were used to predict depression and emotional problems. In both models, the predictive roles of social and psychological factors were examined in separate steps.

<bold>Results:</bold> The regression analysis results for depression emphasized peer attachment, social support, and ethnic identity did not affect the depression after controlling the effect of emotional problems. Similarly, regression analysis results for emotional problems showed that peer attachment, social support, and ethnic identity did not affect depression after controlling the effect of emotional problems. The results also revealed that perceived discrimination was a risk factor for both depression and emotional problems.

<bold>Conclusions:</bold> The results underlined the importance of psychological variables on immigrant adolescents’ depression. Past research emphasized that ethnic identity and peer support had a buffering effect on mental health. The current study participants were living in a different area where they attended schools for only immigrants. The social environment was totally different from the host culture. These reasons may account for why social support from ethnic peers and ethnic identity development did not emerge as a protective factor in the present study. The results will further be discussed in terms of the importance of interaction between ethnic and host culture.
</abstract>

Background: The number of immigrants has been increasing. Immigrant adolescents experience an acculturation process that affects particularly their ethnic identity, perceived discrimination, and relationships with their peers, which would have significant impact on their mental health. The ethnic composition of social environments might affect this relationship.

Objective: The main purpose of the current research is to examine the effect of peer attachment, social support, ethnic identity, and perceived discrimination on immigrant adolescents’ mental health.

Method: The sample included 226 Syrian immigrants (X̄
age = 13.31, SD=1.67, 70.8 % girls). Adolescents live in a homogenous social environment where proportion of Syrian is higher. Two hierarchical regression models were used to predict depression and emotional problems. In both models, the predictive roles of social and psychological factors were examined in separate steps.

Results: The regression analysis results for depression emphasized peer attachment, social support, and ethnic identity did not affect the depression after controlling the effect of emotional problems. Similarly, regression analysis results for emotional problems showed that peer attachment, social support, and ethnic identity did not affect depression after controlling the effect of emotional problems. The results also revealed that perceived discrimination was a risk factor for both depression and emotional problems.

Conclusions: The results underlined the importance of psychological variables on immigrant adolescents’ depression. Past research emphasized that ethnic identity and peer support had a buffering effect on mental health. The current study participants were living in a different area where they attended schools for only immigrants. The social environment was totally different from the host culture. These reasons may account for why social support from ethnic peers and ethnic identity development did not emerge as a protective factor in the present study. The results will further be discussed in terms of the importance of interaction between ethnic and host culture.

The effects of perceived discrimination, social support and ethnic identity on mental health of immigrant adolescents

Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Background: The number of immigrants has been increasing. Immigrant adolescents experience an acculturation process that affects particularly their ethnic...

The effects of perceived discrimination, social support and ethnic identity on mental health of immigrant adolescents

Published Online: Jun 24, 2021

Page range: 127 - 136

Received: Dec 07, 2020

Accepted: Jun 01, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/sjcapp-2021-014

Keywords
Immigrant, adolescent, perceived discrimination, social support, ethnic identity, mental health

© 2021 Derya Atalan Ergin et al., published by sciendo.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The effects of perceived discrimination, social support and ethnic identity on mental health of immigrant adolescents

Published Online: Jun 24, 2021

Page range: 127 - 136

Received: Dec 07, 2020

Accepted: Jun 01, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/sjcapp-2021-014

KeywordsImmigrant, adolescent, perceived discrimination, social support, ethnic identity, mental health

© 2021 Derya Atalan Ergin et al., published by sciendo.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Immigrant, adolescent, perceived discrimination, social support, ethnic identity, mental health