Acculturative stress among young immigrants in Norway

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between migration and the incidence of emotional disorders among 568 young Third World immigrants in Norway. Participants were 10-17 years of age. Using a questionnaire, acculturative stress (i.e., change in health status as a result of acculturation) was found to exist among the children, although having to migrate or being born in Norway was not related to mental health status. A stressful acculturative experience (i.e., difficulties in initiating friendship with Norwegian peers) alone could account for only 1% of the self reported emotional disorders. Incidence of depressive tendencies, poor self image, and psychological and somatic symptoms were found to be related to close and supportive parents, marginality, integration, gender and the number of friends the child had. These accounted for between 12 and 15% of the explained variance. The paper theoretically discusses how these factors may be related to acculturative stress, and recommends them as starting points for a primary intervention program to reduce emotional disorders among these children.

Perception de l'importance des personnes significatives chez des adolescents québécois issus ou non de l'immigration selon la durée de vie dans le milieu culturel d'accueil et le genre /

“…Ces auteurs mentionnent que si l'acculturation débute à l'école primaire, meilleure en sera le déroulement. Cependant, si elle s'amorce à l'adolescence, la transition culturelle se fait plus difficilement, les adolescents ont alors intégré beaucoup d'éléments provenant de leur culture d'origine (Aronowitz, 1992;Carlin, 1990;Ghuman, 1991;Sam & Berry, 1995). De plus, selon certains auteurs (Berry, 1997;Kanouté, 2010) le processus d'acculturation n'est pas exclusif à la première génération d'immigrants et peut se poursuivre chez la seconde génération.…”

Intergroup Relations and Muslims’ Mental Health in Western Societies: Australia as a Case Study

“…Assimilation and separation strategies have been found to have intermediate levels of success whereas marginalization has been found to be the least successful adaptation strategy, contributing to poor wellbeing (Phinney, Horenezyk, Liebkind, & Vedder, 2001;Sam & Berry, 1995. Additionally, Barry andGrilo (2003, as cited in Van Oudenhoven et al, 2006) suggest that under greater conditions of perceived discrimination, separation and marginalization acculturation strategies are more likely to be adopted, which can have detrimental effects on mental health.…”

The Factors Predicting Depression of Expatriates in Turkey

“…Furthermore, marginalization (failed to maintain heritage culture and failed to adapt the culture of the host society) generally was found to be related to the poor psychological outcomes (Berry et al, 1987;Verkuyten & Kwa, 1994;Sam & Berry, 1995).…”