Acculturation Timing among Newcomer and more Experienced Immigrant Youth: The Role of Language Use in Ethnic Friendship Homophily.

The usage of the new language is a crucial aspect in immigrant youth adaptation. However, despite substantial inter- and intraindividual variability and dynamic changes, language usage has been studied primarily with a focus on static interindividual differences. This study utilized a recently introduced Temporal Model of Acculturative Change to test associations between language acquisition and friendship homophily. More specifically, three concepts were tested: pace (individual rate of change), relative timing (the deviation from peers with similar length of residence), and transition timing (preparedness for the relocation). Data comprised a three-wave-longitudinal sample of 820 ethnic German adolescents from Eastern European States who immigrated to Germany (Mage = 16.1, 57% girls). Results revealed, particularly among recent immigrant adolescents, that transition timing predicted earlier relative acculturation timing in language usage and that early relative timing in language usage predicted levels and change rates in friendship homophily (over and above acculturation pace and the actual level of language usage). Findings highlight the need to better understand the dynamics in acculturation processes of immigrant youth.

Striking a new path to study the adaptation processes of immigrant adolescents: Changes in language use and family interactions.

Investigating the adoption and use of the host language is one common method for studying acculturation among immigrants. What is less known is how this type of acculturation changes over time and how individual patterns of change can affect other adaptation processes in the host country, for example within families. This study investigated immigrant adolescents' host language use by applying two recently introduced concepts of acculturative change, pace (the speed in which one acculturates) and relative timing (one's acculturation level relative to coethnic peer acculturation levels), and its relation with family interactions (child disclosure, acculturation-related family hassles). Data comprised a three-wave longitudinal sample of 378 ethnic German immigrant parent-adolescent dyads from former Soviet Union in Germany (adolescent Mage = 15.7, 62% girls). Latent True-Change models were used to model pace of acculturative changes between waves. Structural equation analyses revealed that acculturative pace in language use predicted family interactions over time: Pace between Wave 1 and 2 predicted higher levels of child disclosure, pace between Wave 2 and 3 increased acculturation-related family hassles. Associations were stronger among recently immigrated families. Relative timing was not related to family interactions at all. The results highlight that understanding the dynamics in immigrant adolescents' acculturation can explain differences in family functioning. Thus, insights into individual acculturative change trajectories have the potential to broaden current knowledge about immigrants' adaptation processes in general. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Home-learning during COVID-19: The psychological adjustment of minority and majority adolescents.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting infringements of day-to-day life have affected families through school closures and home-learning. Yet, little research investigated how adolescents and their families could be supported during this time. Our two-wave study had three aims. First, we examined life satisfaction and academic self-efficacy trajectories among ethnic minority and majority adolescents. Second, we considered the role of the home learning environment (learning conditions and parental involvement) in explaining ethnic status group differences. Third, we studied pandemic-related familial factors that contributed to positive home learning environments. The sample comprised 121 ethnic minority (Mage = 14.04; SD = 1.25; 53% female) and 105 ethnic majority adolescents (Mage = 14.36; SD = 1.25; 59% female) in Germany. Results of repeated measures analyses of covariances (ANCOVAs) showed distinct trajectories in adolescents' adjustment (Time × Ethnic status group interaction: ηp² = .02 for academic self-efficacy and ηp² = .03 for life satisfaction). Whereas ethnic minority adolescents reported stable academic self-efficacy and a decrease in life satisfaction, ethnic majority adolescents reported stable life satisfaction and an increase in academic self-efficacy. Accounting for learning conditions reduced the differences between minority and majority adolescents to nonsignificance. Parental involvement did not explain these differences, although it was itself important for adjustment outcomes in both groups. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that good student-teacher communication, a positive family climate and fathers' short-time work contributed to the home learning environment. Findings highlight the decisive role of the family context during home-learning and the importance of learning conditions in overcoming educational disparities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Everybody needs somebody: Specificity and commonality in perceived social support trajectories of immigrant and non-immigrant youth.

Perceived social support can help immigrant youth to deal with developmental acculturation: the simultaneous resolution of developmental and acculturative tasks. This person-oriented three-wave comparative study investigated perceived social support trajectories in two immigrant and one non-immigrant group. We investigated whether similar social support trajectory classes can be found across groups, whether developmental and/or acculturation-related processes predict class membership, and whether social support trajectory classes associate with changes in self-efficacy. The sample comprised 1326 ethnic German immigrant and 830 non-immigrant adolescents in Germany, and 1593 Russian Jewish adolescents in Israel (N = 3749; Mage = 15.45; SD = 2.01; 50% female). Results revealed two social support trajectory classes across all and within each group: a stable well-supported class and a low but increasingly-supported class. Respective to the increasingly-supported class, membership in the well-supported class was associated with commonality in developmental predictors (female gender, high involvement with family and peers) in all groups and specificity in acculturation-related predictors (higher heritage and host culture orientation) in immigrant groups. Patterns of self-efficacy over time matched social support trajectories of both classes in all groups. Findings indicate that stakeholders looking to support immigrant adolescents should be aware of the nuanced coaction of development and migration.

Why do Youth Support their Families? A Person-Oriented Approach in Migrant and Native Families.

Previous studies have observed high levels of family support of migrant adolescents. However, whether culture, context or migration explain this phenomenon remained unclear. This study investigated family support in high SES migrant and native families and identified family support subgroups and predictors as well as implications of subgroup-membership. Participants comprised 165 native Swiss (Mage = 15.9 years, 60.6% female) and 136 German migrants (Mage = 15.3 years, 64.7% female) in Switzerland and 187 native Germans in Germany (Mage = 15.3 years, 54.8% female). A person-oriented multi-group latent-class analysis identified three family support subgroups, which differed particularly in levels of emotional and instrumental family support. Migration was only associated with the medium family support subgroup, whereas family and context characteristics were associated with the high family support subgroup. Furthermore, the high family support subgroup reported the best psychosocial adjustment. These findings highlight that addressing different developmental contexts with person-oriented approaches can provide new insights in the understanding of adolescents' adaptation processes.

Acculturation gaps in diaspora immigrant adolescent-mother dyads: The case for a domain-, group- and context-specific view on family adaptation.

Intergenerational value mismatch in immigrant families, also termed acculturation gap, is well documented. However, in increasingly diverse societies, the generalizability of this phenomenon across immigrant groups, across dimensions and domains of acculturation, and across different receiving societies is questionable. This comparative study investigated mother-adolescent acculturation gaps of two diaspora immigrant samples, who had lived in the former Soviet Union for generations, across two receiving societies (Germany vs. Israel), across two dimensions (ethnic vs. host) in two domains of adaptation (behavioural: language vs. cognitive: identity). In addition, we investigated whether these acculturation gaps are detrimental or beneficial for mother-adolescent communication. Participants comprised 342 diaspora immigrants divided into 80 German repatriate mother-adolescent dyads in Germany (adolescents' mean age: 16.9 years, 48.8% female) and 91 Russian Jewish mother-adolescent dyads in Israel (adolescents' mean age: 15.8 years, 51.6% female) who were interviewed in person at their homes. Results indicated diaspora-specific effects in ethnic identity, with adolescents identifying more closely with their ethnic culture than their mothers. Our study highlights that acculturation gaps can undermine parent-child-communication across both contexts, although we also found some context-specific effects.