Ergin Derya Atalan
Ministry of Education, Ankara, Turkey.
Scand J Child Adolesc Psychiatr Psychol. 2021 Jun 24;9(1):127-136. doi: 10.21307/sjcapp-2021-014. eCollection 2021 Jan.
: 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. 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. The sample included 226 Syrian immigrants (X = 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. 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. 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.
移民数量一直在增加。移民青少年经历着一个文化适应过程，这一过程尤其会影响他们的族群认同、感知到的歧视以及与同龄人的关系，而这些又会对他们的心理健康产生重大影响。社会环境的种族构成可能会影响这种关系。本研究的主要目的是考察同伴依恋、社会支持、族群认同和感知到的歧视对移民青少年心理健康的影响。样本包括226名叙利亚移民（平均年龄 = 13.31岁，标准差 = 1.67，70.8%为女孩）。青少年生活在一个叙利亚人比例较高的同质化社会环境中。使用两个层次回归模型来预测抑郁和情绪问题。在这两个模型中，分别分步骤考察社会和心理因素的预测作用。抑郁的回归分析结果强调，在控制了情绪问题的影响后，同伴依恋、社会支持和族群认同对抑郁没有影响。同样，情绪问题的回归分析结果表明，在控制了情绪问题的影响后，同伴依恋、社会支持和族群认同对抑郁没有影响。结果还表明，感知到的歧视是抑郁和情绪问题的一个风险因素。结果强调了心理变量对移民青少年抑郁的重要性。过去的研究强调族群认同和同伴支持对心理健康有缓冲作用。本研究的参与者生活在一个不同的地区，他们只在移民学校上学。社会环境与东道国文化完全不同。这些原因可能解释了为什么在本研究中，来自族群同伴的社会支持和族群认同发展没有成为一个保护因素。将根据族群文化与东道国文化之间互动的重要性进一步讨论这些结果。
