The immigrant paradox on internalizing symptoms among immigrant adolescents

Abstract

Understanding the immigrant paradox on health outcomes among UK's immigrant adolescents will greatly complement the research on immigrants that has already been established there by economists and interdisciplinary fields. This study used the first Longitudinal Study of Young People in England 2004e2010 database (N ¼ 15,770) to determine a) whether there was evidence of the immigrant paradox on internalizing mental health symptoms between first generation (n ¼ 753) and second plus generation (n ¼ 3042) 14/15 year old immigrant adolescents in England and b) whether differences (if any) were moderated by ethnicity group membership (Black African, Black Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Asian Other, White Immigrant). Findings demonstrate that overall first generation adolescent immigrants had statistically fewer internalizing symptoms as compared to second plus generation, and that this was especially true for Black African adolescents. Effect sizes measures however indicated that these differences were negligible. Implications for protective factors and future studies are briefly discussed.

Is emigration worth the trouble? Satisfaction with life, group identifications, perceived discrimination, and socio-economic status of immigrants and stayers

“…They include difficulties in learning Hebrew, understanding and managing the Israeli education system, getting one's professional credentials recognized, and finding a job in a relatively small Israeli job market (Amit, 2012;Bartram, 2011;Chachashvili-Bolotin, 2011;1 There is also a phenomenon called "the immigrant paradox" that relates to the following findings: 1) some groups of immigrants demonstrate less incidents of risky behavior (e.g., substance use, school truancy, and crimes) and have fewer health problems than the locals; 2) among some immigrant groups, time in the receiving country is positively correlated with social problems, and 3) second-generation immigrants may demonstrate more risky behavior than first-generation immigrants (Salas-Wright, Vaughn, Schwartz, & Córdova, 2016). However, the immigrant paradox was mostly found among adolescents, and it was not demonstrated regarding psychological well-being (Bowe, 2017). In addition, it was found mostly in the US, and its existence was rarely confirmed in Europe (Sam, Vedder, Liebkind, & Virta, 2008).…”

The Role of Psychosocial Resources in the Adjustment of Migrant Adolescents

“…While these factors suggest that migrant youths should display relatively low levels of wellbeing, several studies have found the opposite (Cristini et al, 2015;Harker, 2001;Harris, 1999;Vaage et al, 2009). Terms such as the healthy migrant effect, and the immigrant paradox phenomenon (e.g., Bowe, 2017;Fuligni, 1998;Marks, Ejesi, & Garcia Coll, 2014), have been coined to capture this effect. There are many possible explanations.…”

“…Terms such as the healthy migrant effect, and the immigrant paradox phenomenon (e.g., Bowe, 2017;Fuligni, 1998;Marks, Ejesi, & Garcia Coll, 2014), have been coined to capture this effect. There are many possible explanations.…”

Undoing resilience: immigrant status and poor health following incarceration

“…Conventional wisdom suggests that immigrants should exhibit more health problems given their high poverty rates, low education levels, less access to healthcare, and exposure to troubled neighborhoods (Cardoso & Thompson, 2010;Wright & Rodriguez, 2014;Ybarra, Ha, & Chang, 2017); yet, the opposite turns out to be true. Research in sociology, epidemiology, and public health has found immigrants to have lower rates of mental health problems, substance abuse, and eating disorders than U.S.-born individuals (Bowe, 2017;Ortega, Rosenheck, Alegría, & Desai, 2000;Salas-Wright et al, 2019). Research also shows that these paradoxical effects decline across generations, where firstgeneration immigrants are less likely to experience obesity, asthma, and poor health than second-or latergeneration individuals (Harris, 1999;Nguyen, 2006;Portes & Rumbaut, 2001).…”