Abstract
BackgroundThree out of ten children in Germany have immigrant backgrounds and this proportion is expected to further increase in subsequent years. While immigrant youth have been found more vulnerable to developing symptoms of depression and anxiety, the underlying mechanisms of how such disparities unfold during youth development are still understudied. Some previous research has found that immigrant youth are at risk of experiencing a less positive self-concept compared to non-immigrant youth. We investigated whether the self-concept mediates mental health disparities and explored variability in such associations from middle childhood to late adolescence.MethodsOverall 1839 children and adolescents aged 6–21 years (M = 14.05 years, SD = 3.03, 49.8% female, n = 782 with immigrant status) participated in a cross-sectional self-report survey in classroom settings using scales from the Beck Youth Inventories II (Beck et al. in Beck Youth Inventories - Second Edition, Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, 2005) to assess self-concept and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Links between immigrant status, age, self-concept and symptom levels of depression as well as anxiety were examined using hierarchical regression and moderated mediation models.ResultsImmigrant youth reported higher symptom levels of depression and anxiety than their non-immigrant peers but did not differ in their self-concepts. Hypothesized moderated mediation models were not fully supported and self-concept neither mediated the link between immigrant status and depression nor immigrant status and anxiety. However, self-concept was a significant predictor for symptom levels of depression as well as anxiety, with stronger associations in adolescents.ConclusionsOur study substantiates previous findings that immigrant youth in Germany have overall increased symptom levels of depression and anxiety compared to non-immigrant youth. Our study however does not support that immigrant youth have a more negative self-concept and that the self-concept mediates such internalizing mental health disparities. Findings match previous evidence that developing a positive attitude towards the self is linked to better mental health. Beyond that, our findings suggest that mental health interventions addressing the self-concept could be especially relevant when targeting adolescents. Further research is needed to deepen the understanding of the mediating processes between migration status and mental health variables.
Highlights
Three out of ten children in Germany have immigrant backgrounds and this proportion is expected to further increase in subsequent years
In accordance with our study aims, the Beck Youth Inventories-II (BYI-II) questionnaires on depression, anxiety and self-concept were used in this study
For H2, we examined the impact of the self-concept on depression and anxiety, controlling for age, sex and parental socio-economic status
Summary
Three out of ten children in Germany have immigrant backgrounds and this proportion is expected to further increase in subsequent years. About one-fifth of all children and adolescents in Germany experience mental health problems [2, 3] with symptoms of depression and anxiety being among the most common in these age groups [4]. A literature review including twenty global studies on immigrant youth in resettlement countries [12] suggested a lower socio-economic status as a mediator for increased levels of mental health problems among young immigrant populations. Previous findings on the mediating processes were critically discussed as studies were conducted in different and heterogenous populations, applied varying methodology and, even partially, yielded inconsistent evidence Both lower and higher levels of mental health problems in immigrant youth when compared to non-immigrant youth were found in some studies [15, 16]. One methodological critique addressed the absence of univocal definitions of key constructs such as “immigrant background” or the measurements for mental health problems in immigrant youth [12]
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