Technical Brokering of Immigrant Adolescents in Switzerland: A Developmental-Acculturative Perspective

In the present digital age, intrafamilial dynamics and adolescents’ support of their parents in media use (technical brokering, Katz, 2010) are increasing in attention. However, the significance of migration-specific processes in adolescents’ technical brokering is less understood. In immigrant families, adolescents’ technical brokering may help families in adapting to the host culture and in keeping contact with friends and family abroad. This study investigated differences in the level of technical brokering between German immigrant and native Swiss adolescents and tested whether migration-unrelated (family life) or migration-related (i.e., culture brokering, Tse, 1995) factors are better predictors of interindividual differences in technical brokering in high SES immigrant families. The sample comprised 301 adolescents in Switzerland: 136 German immigrant adolescents (average age = 15.3, 65% female) and 165 native Swiss adolescents (average age = 15.9, 61% female). Adolescents stated the frequency of technical brokering tasks as well as culture brokering and migration-related processes. The results revealed that German immigrant adolescents provided technical brokering more frequently than native Swiss adolescents. Hierarchical regressions confirmed that technical brokering in German immigrant families is best explained by adolescents’ supporting their family in mastering the transition to a new country, as predictors pertaining to culture brokering, and host culture orientation explained most of the variance. This interpretation received further support by an interaction effect showing that technical brokering is particularly frequent when adolescents act as a culture broker in families with substantial socio-cultural adaptation difficulties. This study complements an often deficit-oriented view on immigrant youth with a view of their active and constructive role in immigrant family processes

Differences in processes of acculturation among adolescent immigrants in Israel and Germany: development and use of a new instrument to assess acculturative hassles

Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist, akkulturative Probleme jugendlicher russischer Juden in Israel und jugendlicher Aussiedler in Deutschland zu vergleichen. Für diesen Vergleich wurde ein neues Erhebungsinstrument entwickelt, das in der Lage ist, akkulturative Probleme jugendlicher Immigranten in beiden Kontexten reliabel und valide zu messen. Der erste Teil der empirischen Arbeiten stellt die Entwicklung eines neuen Verfahrens zur Messung von Akkulturationsproblemen dar. Dazu wurden vier Studien durchgeführt. Die aus drei Pilotstudien ermittelten Skalen (Diskriminierungs-probleme, Sprachprobleme und Probleme der sozialen Anpassung) erwiesen in der vierten Studie zur Skalenkonstruktion eine vergleichbare Faktorenstruktur in beiden Stichproben. Der zweite Teil der empirischen Arbeiten befasst sich mit dem Vergleich russischer Juden in Israel und Aussiedler in Deutschland im Hinblick auf die von ihnen berichteten Diskriminierungs-, Sprach- und sozialen Adaptationsprobleme. Die Hypothesen für diesen Vergleich leiteten sich aus den spezifischen Gegebenheiten der Aufnahmekultur und Charakteristiken der jeweiligen Immigrantengruppe ab. In den Haupteffekten unterschieden sich die beiden Immigrantengruppen lediglich hinsichtlich der Probleme der sozialen Adaptation. Wie erwartet, hatten hier die jugendlichen Aussiedler weniger Schwierigkeiten. Die Sprachprobleme reduzierten sich in beiden Immigrantengruppen mit der im Aufnahmeland verbrachten Zeit, dieser Effekt war allerdings bei Aussiedlern signifikant stärker. Hinsichtlich der Diskriminierungsprobleme fanden sich bei russischen Juden in Israel keine Unterschiede zwischen Gruppen unterschiedlichen Aufenthalts, während Aussiedlerjugendliche, die länger in Deutschland waren, signifikant weniger Diskriminierungsprobleme berichteten als die Jugendlichen mit weniger in Deutschland verbrachter Zeit. Probleme der sozialen Anpassung nahmen unter russischen Juden in Israel mit größerer Aufenthaltsdauer zu, während sie unter jugendlichen Aussiedlern abnahmen. Die Ergebnisse werden im Hinblick auf Unterschiede in der Integration beider Immigrantengruppen diskutiert. Im Besonderen werden höhere Tendenzen der Segregation unter russischen Juden in Israel als Quelle eines in Israel weniger ausgeprägten Anpassungsprozesses betrachtet. Abschließend wurden die Grenzen und praktischen Implikationen der vorliegenden Forschungsergebnisse diskutiert. The overarching aim of this work is to compare acculturative hassles of adolescent ethnic German immigrants in Germany and Russian-Jewish adolescent immigrants in Israel. In order to achieve this goal, an instrument needed to be developed that is a reliable and valid measure to assess and compare acculturative hassles in both contexts. Several pilot studies served as the basis for creating a 28 item acculturative hassles questionnaire, which provided three different subscales: language hassles, discrimination hassles, and hassles of social adaptation. The fourth study confirmed this three-factorial structure to be equal in both immigrant samples. To draw hypotheses for a comparison of acculturative hassles in the two immigrant groups, the acculturation of both groups in the respective context was analysed. The two immigrant groups (main effect of immigrant group) only differed in social adaptation hassles that were reported significantly more often among Russian-Jewish adolescents. The interaction (length of stay x immigrant group) was significant for all three subscales of acculturative hassles. Among ethnic German adolescents, the effect of length of stay was more pronounced for all types of hassles indicating lower hassles among those who have been in Germany for a longer period of time. Among Russian-Jewish adolescents a lower level of hassles in groups of longer stay was only found for language hassles (and this effect was less pronounced). Discrimination hassles were not significantly related to length of stay and social adaptation hassles were even reported to happen more often among Russian-Jewish adolescents who have been in the country for a longer period of time compared with newcomers. The results are discussed with regard to higher tendencies of segregation among Russian Jews in Israel as one source of a less pronounced acculturation process. Finally, limitations of this work on acculturative hassles are presented and the practical implications for intervention programs and future research are discussed

New temporal concepts of acculturation in immigrant youth

Acculturation unfolds over time, but research on acculturation often does not account for developmental processes. Recent studies introduced several novel temporal concepts of acculturation processes to understand more fully how immigrant youth adapt to new cultural contexts. In this review, we describe these new temporal concepts of acculturation: Acculturative timing refers to youth's age at time of migration (chronological timing), the actual start of acculturative changes (which may occur before or after physical migration, also called transition timing), and the deviation in acculturative change from peers and relevant others from the same cohort and context (relative timing). Acculturation tempo is the duration of acculturation processes from start to a defined end. Acculturation pace is the speed at which acculturation occurs. Acculturation synchrony describes whether adaptation unfolds at the same or different times across different spheres of life. We also present empirical evidence for the predictive utility of the new temporal concepts and provide methodological guidelines on how to measure and assess these concepts. © 2022 The Authors. Child Development Perspectives published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development

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

Between Here and There: Patterns and Predictors of Transnationalism among Three Immigrant Groups in Germany

The increasingly global world is giving rise to the new form of immigrant movement called transnationalism, characterized by immigrants’ close ties with both host and home nations as well as frequent trips between the two countries. Despite lively theoretical discussion of transnationalism there is very little empirical research on patterns and predictors of transnational migration. The current study investigates predictors of group and individual variability in transnationalism within three largest immigrant groups in Germany: ethnic Germans, Russian Jews, and Turks. Impacts of context of exit and entry, demographic variables, and sociocultural retention variables on transnationalism are investigated. Results show that ethnic groups are indeed different in the frequency of visiting the country of origin, and demonstrate the importance of cultural and identification variables in predicting betweenindividual variability in transnationalism

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

Positive development of immigrant youth: Why bother?

It is in the best interest of Europe and other receiving countries to have successful adaptations among their immigrant populations. International research suggests that well-informed policies and practices are necessary for the successful incorporation of immigrants into new societies. This evidence shows that: Children's positive adaptations and well being provide the foundation for healthy and productive adult lives; providing immigrant families with economic opportunities and reducing barriers to obtain adequate employment equips parents to raise well-adjusted and productive citizens; policies toward immigrants are important for the successful adaptation of immigrant youth; immigrant youth adopting the host cultures and languages while also maintaining the heritage culture and language, do better and contribute more to society than youth who learn only one language or cultural orientation; discrimination, racism and exclusion have deleterious effects for positive youth development. We therefore recommend that immigration policies and practices in receiving countries should be informed by previous research and interventions; promote non-segregated environments, welcoming environments; provide economic opportunities; provide early childcare, education, and health-related prevention and intervention programs; create public campaigns; and incorporate these considerations in the resettlement of refugees

Acculturation in Context: The Moderating Effects of Immigrant and Native Peer Orientations on the Acculturation Experiences of Immigrants

Immigrant adolescents have to navigate through a complex social environment consisting of, at least, both a native and a co-ethnic community. This study used a multi-level framework to consider two research questions involving this complexity. The individual-level associations of acculturation orientations and acculturative hassles (language and sociocultural adaptation) was assessed in immigrant youths, and whether this association differs depending on the school-level acculturation orientations held by co-ethnic peers, and the school-level orientations toward immigrants held by native German peers. We then investigated whether acculturative hassles are associated with the psychosocial functioning (self-efficacy, depressive symptoms) of immigrant adolescents. The sample comprised 650 ethnic German Diaspora migrant adolescents (mean age 15.6years, 53.7% female) and their 787 native German peers (mean age 15.05years, 51% female). The results showed that contextual factors (co-ethnic acculturation orientation, native friendship preferences) moderated the association between the acculturation orientations of adolescent immigrants and both types of acculturative hassles. Acculturative hassles, in turn, were associated with the psychosocial functioning of adolescents. This research demonstrates that a person-by-context perspective is needed to better understand the adaptation of adolescent immigrants. This perspective has to take into account both the native and the co-ethnic peer environment

Two Sides of a Story: Mothers' and Adolescents' Agreement on Child Disclosure in Immigrant and Native Families

Research on immigrant families often has suggested that the process of immigration can lead to a distancing of adolescents and their parents. This study examined the actual agreement of immigrant and native mother-adolescent dyads in their reports on children's disclosure as an indicator for a trusting mother-child relationship. The research questions related to group-level differences (immigrant vs. native dyads) in mother-adolescent agreement, the prediction of interdyadic differences in mother-adolescent agreement, and the associations between mother-adolescent agreement and both family conflicts and adolescents' depressive symptoms. The sample was comprised of mother-adolescent dyads: 197 native German dyads (adolescents: mean age 14.7years, 53% female) and 185 immigrant dyads from the former Soviet Union (adolescents: mean age 15.7years, 60% female). Agreement was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient. The results revealed that mother-adolescent agreement was lower in immigrant dyads than in native dyads. In both samples, higher levels of adolescent autonomy predicted lower mother-adolescent agreement. Among immigrants, language brokering was an additional predictor of lower levels of mother-adolescent agreement. The interaction of language brokering and autonomy also turned out to be significant, indicating that if an adolescent was high in language brokering or autonomy, the effect of the other variable was negligible. In both groups, mother-adolescent agreement was negatively related to family conflicts. The study shows that processes in immigrant and native families are rather similar, but that in immigrant families some additional acculturation-related factors have to be considered for a full understanding of family dynamics