Newcomer Immigrant Adolescents and Ambiguous Discrimination: The Role of Cognitive Appraisal

Cognitive appraisal has been shown to mediate the relationship between stressors and internalizing symptoms, but not among newcomer immigrant youth facing ambiguous discrimination. Using a mixed-methods design with a sample of newcomer adolescents from African, Arab, Asian, Caribbean, European, and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of adolescent research 2015-01, Vol.30 (1), p.7-30
Main Authors: Patel, Sita G., Tabb, Kevin M., Strambler, Michael J., Eltareb, Fazia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Acculturation
Adolescents
Age Differences
Cognition
Cognitive Processes
Cognitive psychology
Discrimination
Ethnic Groups
Europe
Experience
Foreign Countries
Gender Differences
Grades (Scholastic)
Health
High School Students
Immigrants
Likert Scales
Mental Health
Minority Group Students
Mixed Methods Research
Noncitizens
Perceptions
Psychological Patterns
Questionnaires
Racial Bias
Racial Discrimination
Regression (Statistics)
Social Discrimination
Social psychology
Stress
Stress Variables
Surveys
Symptoms
Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
Teenagers
United States (Northeast)
Well Being
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Summary:Cognitive appraisal has been shown to mediate the relationship between stressors and internalizing symptoms, but not among newcomer immigrant youth facing ambiguous discrimination. Using a mixed-methods design with a sample of newcomer adolescents from African, Arab, Asian, Caribbean, European, and Latin American countries, this study measured the perceived occurrence of discrimination (attribution to discrimination) and its perceived degree of severity (cognitive appraisal) in relation to internalizing symptoms and academic achievement. Attribution to discrimination predicted greater internalizing symptoms, and appraisal mediated this relationship. The mediation effect was found for younger, but not older adolescents. Quantitative results suggest that perceiving discrimination to be threatening, not just that it occurred, relates to psychological health. Qualitative results suggest that for newcomer adolescents, discrimination is a highly prevalent and complex stressor with multiple psychosocial ramifications.
ISSN:0743-5584
1552-6895
DOI:10.1177/0743558414546717