Longitudinal interplay between peer likeability and youth’s adaptation and psychological well-being: A study of immigrant and nonimmigrant adolescents in the school context

Abstract

The present study examined the direction of effects between peer likeability and youth’s school adjustment and psychological well-being, and the moderation of these effects by students’ immigrant status. One thousand one hundred and eighteen students (63% immigrants) nested in 57 Greek middle-school classrooms took part in the study (Wave 1; age M = 12.6 years). Data were collected from multiple sources and informants. The results reveal complex, in some cases bidirectional effects over time between peer likeability and different indices of school adjustment and psychological well-being. Being liked by Greek, but not by immigrant, classmates influenced students’ well-being over time. In contrast, being liked by either immigrant or Greek classmates predicted changes in students’ school adjustment. The results highlight the importance of supporting positive peer relations among youth in order to promote other adaptation outcomes. In the case of immigrant youth, they suggest that interventions need to promote positive intergroup contact between them and their nonimmigrant classmates in order to support their well-being.

Results of Mentoring in the Psychosocial Well-Being of Young Immigrants and Refugees in Spain

“…This corroborates the results of previous research that shows a positive association between mentoring and peer relationship development [63]. The importance of close peer relationships for immigrant adolescents has been found in previous social science research [64,65], the results of which show that peer social support not only promotes adaptation to the host country but also contributes to greater psychological well-being. In the present study, the increase in the perception of social support in school, as well as providing mentees with educational support, strengthened their feeling of personal worth.…”

School Dropout Intention and Self-esteem in Immigrant and Native Students Living in Poverty: The Protective Role of Peer Acceptance at School

“…According to the segmented assimilation theory (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001), it is possible to expect perceived peer acceptance to play a key role in the psychological well-being of immigrant adolescents at school, and recent studies have provided initial evidence to support this idea (Motti-Stefanidi, Pavlopoulos, Mastrotheodoros, & Asendorpf, 2020). Peer acceptance has a pivotal role in emotional and relational development in general (Harris, 1995): during preadolescence and adolescence, the perception of belonging to a peer group sustains the gradual processes of individuation and of increasing autonomy from the family (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 2006), protecting the individual's psychological well-being in spite of other contextual difficulties (Birkeland, Breivik, & Wold, 2014).…”

School Satisfaction in Immigrant and Chilean Students: The Role of Prejudice and Cultural Self-Efficacy

“…Intergroup relations have been identified as important antecedents of students’ school adjustment and well-being ( Berry et al, 2006 ; Martínez-Taboada et al, 2017 ; Motti-Stefanidi et al, 2020 ; Sirlopú and Renger, 2020 ). Literature about intergroup contact between immigrant and Chilean students has reported contradictory results.…”

“…Quotidian experiences of mixing with different others at school could have important consequences on intergroup attitudes, even affecting their relations with outgroup members on their adulthood ( Berry et al, 2006 ; Abrams and Killen, 2014 ; Schachner et al, 2018b ). Moreover, the quality of the contact between students from different cultural backgrounds has also influence in both their school adjustment and psychological well-being ( Berry et al, 2006 ; Martínez-Taboada et al, 2017 ; Motti-Stefanidi et al, 2020 ).…”