Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
J Health Soc Behav. 2011 Mar;52(1):23-42. doi: 10.1177/0022146510395027.
The authors reexamine the study of generational differences in adjustment among the children of immigrants by arguing that the country of origin defines and shapes the adaptation process across generations. Using a sample of children in Toronto, the authors demonstrate that generational differences in the mental health of children occur only in families from countries of origin at the lowest levels of economic development. Among those at the lowest levels of economic development, a mental health advantage in the first generation evolves to a disadvantage in the 2.5 generation relative to third or later generational children. Children from backgrounds characterized by higher economic development show no initial or eventual differences from the native born. Using data from the Toronto Study of Intact Families, the authors are able to explain differences among children from low economic development backgrounds specifically in terms of increasing family conflict and decreasing school involvement across generations.
作者通过论证原籍国定义并塑造跨代适应过程，重新审视移民子女代际调整差异的研究。利用多伦多儿童样本，作者表明，只有在经济发展水平最低的原籍国的家庭中，儿童心理健康的代际差异才会出现。在经济发展水平最低的家庭中，第一代的心理健康优势相对于 2.5 代或以后代际的儿童会演变为劣势。来自经济发展水平较高背景的儿童与土生土长的儿童没有初始或最终的差异。作者利用多伦多完整家庭研究的数据，能够根据代际间家庭冲突的增加和学校参与度的降低，具体解释经济发展水平较低背景的儿童的差异。
