Longitudinal Interplay between Perceived Discrimination and Immigrant Youth Adaptation and Wellbeing

• In Event: 3-015 - Contextual and Longitudinal Assessments of Risk and Protective Factors for Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Across Three Countries

Integrative Statement

Immigration is a defining characteristic of the 21st century. Immigrant integration in the receiving society is a high stakes issue for multiple stakeholders in many countries because of its potential long-term significance for the well-being of migrants and the vitality of receiving societies. The litmus test for how well immigrants are integrated into a receiving society is to assess how well their children are doing. However, immigrant youth often live and grow in a social context replete with prejudice and discrimination. Perceived ethnic discrimination has been shown to have deleterious consequences on immigrant youth’s developmental and mental health outcomes (Marks, Ejesi, McCullough, & García Coll, 2015).

Three research questions were examined. First, whether perceived ethnic discrimination predicts over time changes in immigrant youth’s school adjustment and wellbeing. Second, whether their school adjustment and wellbeing predict over time changes in perceived discrimination. Third, whether both directions hold.

Method. The sample consisted of 683 immigrant students enrolled in 14 public schools in the extended Athens area, who were followed for three consecutive years. Participants were 12.6 years (SD = 0.57) at wave 1. Perceived ethnic discrimination, school adjustment, and wellbeing were assessed in all three waves: perceived ethnic discrimination in the school context, self-rated (based on Phinney, Madden, and Santos, 1998, and Verkuyten, 1998). School adjustment indices: a) School Grades and Absenteeism, school records and b) Behavioral School Engagement and Positive Conduct, teacher-rated. Wellbeing indices: a) Depression (Salokangas et al., 1995), c) Self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965) and d) Self-efficacy (Bandura et al., 1996), all self-rated.

Data Analytic Plan. We examined the research questions using cross-lagged panel modelling approach in Mplus 7.0, controlling for classroom clustering of students. The analyses were based on latent variables (except absenteeism) and stationary models (equal cross-lagged for T12, T23) which fitted the data not worse than non-stationary models (for all models, ΔCFI < .001). All models provided a good fit to the data (CFI > .95, RMSEA < .05).

Results. Perceived ethnic discrimination predicted over time changes in immigrant youth’s behavioral school engagement, absenteeism, self-efficacy, and self-esteem. However, academic achievement, behavioral school engagement, and depression predicted over time changes in immigrant youth’s perceived ethnic discrimination. The predictions from adaptation/wellbeing to perceived ethnic discrimination showed a stronger effect size.

Discussion. As would be expected based on developmental systems theory (Cichetti & Toth, 2009), the longitudinal link between perceived ethnic discrimination, on the one hand, and school adjustment/wellbeing, on the other, is bidirectional. In agreement with the international literature, perceptions of discrimination have a negative effect on a number of adaptation and wellbeing indices. However, immigrant youth’s individual characteristics seem to have a greater contribution in who perceives being discriminated against. Do well-adjusted students (compared to students who are less well adjusted) actually experience less discrimination or do they construe and make sense of their reality differently?

Authors

• Frosso Motti, University of Athens
  Presenting Author

• Jens Asendorpf, Humboldt University
  Non-Presenting Author