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

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

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

Tuneable resolution as a systems biology approach for multi-scale, multi-compartment computational models

The use of multi-scale mathematical and computational models to study complex biological processes is becoming increasingly productive. Multi-scale models span a range of spatial and/or temporal scales and can encompass multi-compartment (e.g., multi-organ) models. Modeling advances are enabling virtual experiments to explore and answer questions that are problematic to address in the wet-lab. Wet-lab experimental technologies now allow scientists to observe, measure, record, and analyze experiments focusing on different system aspects at a variety of biological scales. We need the technical ability to mirror that same flexibility in virtual experiments using multi-scale models. Here we present a new approach, tuneable resolution, which can begin providing that flexibility. Tuneable resolution involves fine- or coarse-graining existing multi-scale models at the user's discretion, allowing adjustment of the level of resolution specific to a question, an experiment, or a scale of interest. Tuneable resolution expands options for revising and validating mechanistic multi-scale models, can extend the longevity of multi-scale models, and may increase computational efficiency. The tuneable resolution approach can be applied to many model types, including differential equation, agent-based, and hybrid models. We demonstrate our tuneable resolution ideas with examples relevant to infectious disease modeling, illustrating key principles at work. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2014, 6:225–245. doi:10.1002/wsbm.1270 How to cite this article: WIREs Syst Biol Med 2014, 6:289–309. doi:10.1002/wsbm.127

Interferometric Observations of Rapidly Rotating Stars

Optical interferometry provides us with a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of stellar structure and evolution. Through direct observation of rotationally distorted photospheres at sub-milliarcsecond scales, we are now able to characterize latitude dependencies of stellar radius, temperature structure, and even energy transport. These detailed new views of stars are leading to revised thinking in a broad array of associated topics, such as spectroscopy, stellar evolution, and exoplanet detection. As newly advanced techniques and instrumentation mature, this topic in astronomy is poised to greatly expand in depth and influence.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&AR

Immigrant adolescents’ active role in family adaptation processes: the do’s and don’ts

Background: Recent theoretical approaches emphasize adolescents’ active skills and agency in developmental processes and propose that immigrant adolescents may be the socializing agents for their families in new environments. However, empirical research on immigrant adolescents’ active role in the family reveals some research gaps. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to investigate immigrant adolescents’ active role in family adaptation and determine how it is related to adolescent and familial psycho-socio-cultural adjustment. Specifically, to achieve this goal, I examined different forms of adolescents’ involvement in family processes as well as its associations with risks and opportunities for adolescent and family adaptation and interactions. I also aimed to identify factors that can explain differences in immigrant adolescents’ active role across families, including migration conditions and acculturative timing. Methods: Adolescents’ active role in the family was investigated by considering two types of active youth involvement in family processes: activities by which adolescents directly support their families (termed direct adolescent influence) and ones in which adolescents’ developmental progress unintentionally provokes family reactions (termed evocative adolescent influence). To examine adolescents’ active role and its hypothesized relations and outcomes, I drew on two cross-sectional and one longitudinal data set containing parent–adolescent data from five ethnic groups (native Germans, native Swiss, German immigrants, ethnic German repatriates, Russian Jews) in three contexts (Germany, Israel, Switzerland). The data were analyzed using person-oriented, comparative, and multi-group approaches as well as structural equation modeling in Mplus and SPSS. Results: The analyses revealed substantial levels of direct adolescent involvement in families in the form of migration-specific (i.e., brokering) and migration-unspecific support (i.e., instrumental and emotional support). In addition, adolescents who provided migration-specific support were shown to provide more direct support in families in general. Evocative adolescent influence was confirmed through relations of adolescents’ independent acculturation with family interactions. Adolescents’ active role in family processes was supported in all studies independent of ethnic group or context and in host and ethnic culture domains. Notably, the analyses revealed that adolescents’ active role can be a double-edged sword for family adjustment with both positive (e.g., self-efficacy, child disclosure) and negative (e.g., exhaustion, family hassles) adolescent and family outcomes. Further, group- (e.g., family resources) and context-characteristics (e.g., segregation) can foster adolescents’ active role in families. Finally, adolescents’ acculturative speed as well as parent-adolescent differences in acculturative timing were shown to strengthen associations of adolescents’ acculturation and family dynamics. Conclusion: Adolescents are active agents creating their own development in multicultural societies and can contribute substantially to successful family adaptation. In this respect, this dissertation provides insights into the active and constructive roles that adolescents can adopt in families and societies and discusses implications for future research and practice