Affective acculturation and psychological well-being of children: The case of children from multicultural families in Korea

Abstract

Over the past two decades, there has been a growing number of immigrant-origin children and adolescents in South Korea, often referred to as multicultural adolescents. This study examines whether and how multicultural adolescents’ affective acculturation shapes psychological well-being. Using data from the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study (MAPS) 2012–2015, a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of multicultural adolescents and parents, this study uses fixed-effects regression models to reduce the chances of bias due to individual-level heterogeneity. Results suggest that affective attachment to the host country is positively associated with life satisfaction and negatively associated with depressive symptoms among multicultural adolescents. Results from Sobel-Goodman mediation tests suggest that school adjustment factors including friendships and engagement in learning activities explain nearly 60 percent of the association between affective acculturation and psychological well-being. Findings of this study suggest that efforts to facilitate the social incorporation of multicultural adolescents in schools would also improve their psychological well-being.