Beyond Nativity: How Parental Immigration Background Shapes Mental Health Trajectories Among Asian-Origin Youth

• In Event: Immigrant Health - Changing Contexts, Heterogeneity, Resilience, and Selectivity

Abstract

The "second generation" has been treated as a monolithic demographic category in immigration research, obscuring critical heterogeneity by parental nativity configuration. This study examines whether US-born children with both immigrant parents (Gen 2 Both) experience different mental health trajectories than those with one immigrant and one US-born parent (Gen 2 Mixed), and how these patterns compare to foreign-born youth (Gen 1.5) across racial groups and developmental periods. Using Add Health data and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, we reveal that Gen 2 Both resembles Gen 1.5 far more than Gen 2 Mixed among Asian-origin youth, sharing similar family characteristics and mental health vulnerabilities. Decomposition analyses demonstrate that protective factors such as ethnic enclave residence and family closeness suppress achievement pressure risks, creating null net gaps that mask substantive opposing mechanisms. These patterns are absent among Hispanic and White youth, demonstrating race-specific immigrant incorporation processes. Developmental analyses reveal that protective factors weaken substantially from adolescence to emerging adulthood, leaving foreign-born Asian youth with persistent and intensifying mental health disadvantages. Findings challenge conventional generational categories and demonstrate that decomposition methods can reveal meaningful processes invisible in standard analyses.

Authors

• Yoonyoung Choi, University of Arizona

• Mei-Yu Kuo, Ohio State University