An “immigrant paradox” for adolescent externalizing behavior? Evidence from a national sample

Abstract

Purpose Recent decades have witnessed a rise in the number of immigrant children in the United States (US) and concomitant concerns regarding externalizing behaviors such as crime, violence, and drug misuse by immigrant adolescents. The objective of the present study was to systematically compare the prevalence of externalizing behaviors and migration-related factors among immigrant and US-born adolescents in the US. Method Data on 12 to 17 year olds (Weighted N in thousands = 25,057) from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) R-DAS between 2002 and 2009 were used. The R-DAS online analytic software was employed. Prevalence estimates and 95 % confidence intervals were calculated adjusting for the complex survey sampling design. Results Compared to their US-born counterparts, immigrant adolescents—particularly those between the ages of 15 and 17 years—are significantly less likely to be involved in externalizing behaviors. In addition, later age of arrival and fewer years spent in the US were associated with reduced odds of externalizing behavior. Supplementary analyses indicate that the link between nativity and externalizing behavior may be primarily driven by differences between US-born and immigrant youth who self-identify as non-Hispanic black or Hispanic. Immigrant adolescents are also more likely to report cohesive parental relationships, positive school engagement, and disapproving views with respect to adolescent substance use. Conclusions This study extends prior research on the “immigrant paradox” to externalizing behavior among adolescents using a nationally representative data source. Findings highlight the importance of examining age, age of arrival, duration, and race/ethnicity in the study of nativity and externalizing.

The Mental Health Advantage of Immigrant‐Background Youth: The Role of Family Factors

“…If immigrants integrate into the destination country, we would expect to find a convergence toward the majority's health level across immigrant generations or across time spent in the destination country. Although some earlier studies suggested such a pattern (e.g., Harker, ; Montazer & Wheaton, ; Salas‐Wright et al, ), our previous analyses (Mood et al, in press) revealed no or very little convergence in the countries we examined. We have therefore included both the first (born abroad) and second (born in the host country to immigrant parents) generation in our immigrant origin groups, but we controlled for generation in our analyses (which did not alter the results).…”

“…The results on family cohesion and parental warmth or closeness are more mixed: Kao () reported more family closeness among Asian and Latino groups in the United States than among nonimmigrants, but Chao () found no significant differences for Chinese immigrants, and Bankston and Zhou () found less closeness in immigrant families. Salas‐Wright et al () showed that recently arrived immigrant adolescents reported more parental support and less parent–child conflict than those born in the United States.…”

“…Not only do they experience acculturation (Berry, ; Schwartz, Unger, Zamboanga, & Szapocznik, ), but they may also face discrimination, socioeconomic deprivation, and contradictory expectations from parents and peers with regard to norms and behavior. Yet they have been found to have no worse, and in several studies better, mental health in terms of both internalizing and externalizing problems (e.g., Goodman, Patel, & Leon, ; Harker, ; Montazer & Wheaton, ; Mood, Jonsson, & Låftman, in press; Salas‐Wright, Vaughn, Schwartz, & Córdova, ). This paradoxical finding raises the question of what it is that could possibly instill such resilience in these children.…”

Handgun Carrying Among Youth in the United States

“…Detailed information, including the variable prompts, response options, and corresponding coding structure, is provided in Table 3. Consistent with previous NSDUH-based studies, the response options for each of these items were dichotomized so as to enhance the interpretability of results (DeLisi, Vaughn, & Salas-Wright, 2015;Salas-Wright, Vaughn, Schwartz, & Córdova, 2015). …”

The interactive effects of perceived peer drinking and personality profiles on adolescent drinking: a prospective cohort study

“…Age, sex [0 (male), 1 (female)], birth country [0 (born in Australia), 1 (born overseas)], and baseline truancy (‘How many days did you have off school last year without your parents’ permission?’ [five‐point scale from 0 (zero days) to 10 (10 or more days)] and grades (‘What grades do you usually get in school?’ [six‐point scale from 49% and below to 90–100%)] were controlled for given their influence on adolescent drinking . Consent type [0 (active) and 1 (passive)] was included to control for the over‐representation of private school students.…”