School Dropout Intention and Self-esteem in Immigrant and Native Students Living in Poverty: The Protective Role of Peer Acceptance at School

Abstract

The psychological well-being at school of immigrant students living in poverty is currently an understudied topic in developmental psychology. This is an important shortcoming because this population, which is rapidly increasing in many western countries, is in a double minority condition and has a greater risk of experiencing psychological distress at school, in comparison with their native peers. In order to improve our understanding on this issue, the present two-wave study investigated the prospective relationships between peer acceptance and two aspects of well-being at school—intention to drop out of school and negative self-esteem—specifically focusing on the differential effect of having (vs. not having) an immigrant background. The participants were 249 preadolescents and adolescents living in poverty (Mage = 12.76; SDage = 2.34; 41.8% girls; 19.3% immigrants) who were attending educational centres for disadvantaged minors. The poverty status of the participants was an inclusion criterion. A multilinear regression model with multigroup analysis was tested. As expected, the results showed that peer acceptance had a significant negative association with school dropout intentions and negative self-esteem only for immigrants, but not for natives. For immigrant students, the protective effect of peer acceptance was comparable to the stability over time of dropout intention and self-esteem, a result that has promising implications for prevention programs. The applied implications of the study for educational and clinical contexts are discussed.