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KMID : 0613620170370020102
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Health Social Welfare Review
2017 Volume.37 No. 2 p.102 ~ p.125
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Impacts of Language Use, Family, School, and Neighborhood on Mental Distress: Analyzing Data on Immigrant Youth in California
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Hong Seok-Ho
Lee Sang-Jung
Donna Harrington
Kim Moo-Hyun
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Abstract
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This study aims to identify experiences of immigration and mental health related characteristics of non U.S.-born adolescents and to examine predictors related to mental distress within a social ecological perspective. Secondary data of 348 non U.S.-born adolescents from the CHIS 2011-2012 Adolescents Survey were used for this study. Impacts of individual, family, school, and community factors on mental distress of non U.S.-born adolescents were examined using hierarchical multiple regression. The average age of the adolescents was 14.5 years (SD = 1.7), and more than half were girls (53.4%). Of the participants, 31.6% were interviewed in a language other than English and 72.7% did not use English at home. Nearly half have been living in the U.S. for over 10 years (48.6%). Approximately 2% had a score of 13 or over indicating serious mental distress. Being interviewed in a language other than English, speaking English at home, having higher levels of school support and neighborhood cohesion, and not being threatened by peers were associated with current lower levels of mental distress in non U.S.-born adolescents. The findings of this study contribute to the literature and theory focusing on impacts of acculturation, school, and neighborhood on mental health of immigrant adolescents. Schools and communities may be the channels to help immigrant adolescents’ acculturation process and ultimately to reduce their mental distress.
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KEYWORD
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Mental Distress, Non US-born Adolescent, Language Use, Social Ecology
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