Foreign-born Parents Research Articles

Oral health among children participating in an extended home visiting programme-a case‒control study.

To evaluate whether an extended home visiting programme by child health nurses and parent counsellors can prevent caries and improve oral health habits in children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. All families in Sweden are offered one home visit when the child is two weeks old. The extended home visiting programme included five extra home visits between two and fifteenmonths of age where every visit had a specific theme (child safety, feeding, attachment/interaction, parenthood, social network, and self-care). Toothbrush and toothpaste, together with oral health information, were given around eight months of age. Clinical examinations and oral health habit questionnaires were conducted at 12, 24, and 36months of age. The International Caries Detection and Assessment System was used to assess caries, and the results were compared to those of an age-matched control group following the standard child health care programme. Significantly (p < 0.05) more children had caries at 36months of age in the intervention group (32.8%) than in the control group (10.1%). The intervention group had significantly (p < 0.05) more plaque and a greater frequency of sweet snacks and drinks. In the intervention group, significantly (p < 0.05) more parents were under the age of 25 and foreign-born. Significantly (p < 0.001) more foreign-born parents were born in high-income countries in the control group compared to the intervention group. The extended home visiting programme did not improve the prevalence of caries or oral health habits in this cohort. However, since the groups differed in socioeconomic factors, the results should be interpreted with caution.

Beyond Gender: Exploring the Intersectional Dynamics in Political Interest Among Youth

One of the most persistent and puzzling inequalities across Western democracies is that women are less interested in politics than men. We know that political interest is developed—or not—at an early age, and that it becomes a key determinant of political involvement during adulthood. Due to its early development, recent research suggests focusing on gendered political socialization patterns to understand why women display lower levels of political interest than men. A recent systematic literature review on political interest confirms that the gap is already present at an early age. In addition, the review shows that research and evidence on the potential intersectionality of inequalities on young people’s political interest is surprisingly scarce. In this article we present novel evidence on the interaction of gender with an additional source of political inequality: immigration background. In doing so we use the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU) dataset, a longitudinal survey that follows a sample of adolescents with foreign-born parents that can be compared to natives in four countries. The analyses follow the latest recommendations regarding the use of interactions to evaluate claims of intersectionality. The results of our preliminary tests indicate that girls with an immigrant background are more interested in politics than girls without personal or family immigration background. Furthermore, the results are compatible with an intersectional approach by which being both a girl and having an immigration background has an independent positive relationship with political interest. Finally, we do not find significant differences between first- and second-generation immigrant girls.

The unequal weight of COVID-19 pandemic: national trends in body mass index among Korean adolescents by immigrant-origin and gender from 2013 to 2022

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic increased the burden due to school closures and stay-at-home orders, disrupting the community energy balance. This study examines rising obesity trends among Korean adolescents during school closures, focusing on gender differences and immigrant-origin youths – those of foreign descent or with at least one foreign-born parent. We analysed data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBS) (N = 539,187). The study aims to assess BMI trends between 2013 and 2022, examine the impact of school closures, and explore differential obesity risks among immigrant-origin youths by gender. Regression models with interaction terms were used to analyse BMI trends and pandemic effects on immigrant-origin youths compared to non-immigrant-origin youths, with gender subgroup analyses. Results show increased BMI for all adolescents, with a notable rise and higher overweight risks in immigrant-origin male adolescents during COVID-19. These findings highlight the need for gender-specific interventions in schools for immigrant-origin youths.

Representation at Risk: Evaluating Levels and Consequences of Violence against Immigrant-Background Politicians

Politicians are increasingly subjected to violence, both online and offline. Recent studies highlight a gendered pattern to this violence. But, as societies diversify and minorities increasingly hold political office, we have yet to assess whether members of these groups face disproportionate levels of violence. Our research investigates levels and types of violence against immigrant background politicians in Sweden, where over one-third is either foreign-born or has a foreign-born parent, using a unique three-wave survey ( $ N=23,000 $ ) on Swedish elected officials. Across every form of violence examined, politicians with immigrant backgrounds report experiencing significantly more physical and psychological violence than their counterparts. These experiences are not without political consequence: immigrant background politicians, and among them especially women, are significantly more likely than their counterparts to consider exiting politics due to harassment. Together, these findings suggest that violence may be driving this already underrepresented group of immigrant background politicians out of office.

Myocardial infarction in second-generation immigrants compared to native-born Swedes in the total population of Sweden.

Myocardial infarction in second-generation immigrants compared to native-born Swedes in the total population of Sweden.

Support or Strain?: Transnational Social Ties and Deviant Behaviors Among Multicultural Adolescents in South Korea

ABSTRACT Despite the increasing population of multicultural adolescents in Korea with foreign-born parents, research into their deviant behavior, particularly in relation to transnational ties with their mothers’ home countries, remains limited. Addressing this gap, our study investigated the impact of such ties on multicultural adolescents’ deviant behaviors. Utilizing waves 7–9 of the Multicultural Adolescent Panel Survey (N = 1,193, n = 3,330), we employed a hybrid random effects negative binomial regression to assess both between-individual effects and within-individual changes over time. Our main independent variable was adolescents’ transnational social ties with their mother’s home countries, encompassing both outbound ties (adolescent’s visit to the mother’s home country) and inbound ties (visits by grandparents or relatives from the mother’s home country). We found that transnational ties with the mother’s home country were more likely to induce stress than provide support for adolescents. Specifically, multicultural adolescents with transnational ties through visits from grandparents or relatives from their mother’s home country to Korea exhibited a higher propensity for deviant behaviors compared to those without such ties. Moreover, these transnational visits exacerbated the risk of delinquency over time. We did not find any moderating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between transnational ties and deviant behaviors. Our findings underscore the importance of fostering a social environment that embraces multicultural families as integral members of Korean society.

Examining cultural background and the protective effect of marriage on alcohol use disorder in Sweden.

Little is known about whether the protective effect of marriage on alcohol use disorder (AUD) varies by cultural background. Using Swedish national data, we examined whether marriage is associated with a stronger reduction in AUD risk among Swedes of a Swedish background (i.e. those with two Swedish-born parents) compared to Swedes with a foreign background (i.e. one or two foreign-born parents) and whether the protective effect of marriage depends on whether the spouse has a Swedish or foreign background. Among those born in Sweden 1960 to 1990 (3,093,439; 49% female), associations between cultural background and AUD registration during marriage were estimated with Cox models. Analyses of intra- and intermarriage on AUD registration were examined with Cox models and limited to groups of focal individuals for which there was sufficient statistical power, which included Swedes with two Swedish-born parents, two Finnish-born parents, or bicultural background (one Swedish and one foreign-born parent). Models were sex stratified. Marriage was associated with reductions in AUD risk among those with Swedish and with foreign backgrounds, though less protective for males of Finnish versus Swedish background as indicated by a significant interaction between marital status and parental region of birth, HR = 0.80, 95% CI [0.71, 0.90]. Marriage was also less protective for those with a bicultural versus Swedish background, HRmales = 0.87, 95% CI [0.81, 0.92] and HRfemales = 0.88, 95% CI [0.81, 0.97]. Among those of Swedish background, marriage to a spouse with a foreign versus Swedish background was associated with increased risk of AUD, HRmales = 1.26, 95% CI [1.19, 1.34] and HRfemales = 1.20, 95% CI [1.10, 1.31]. This risk was diminished when family-level confounders (genes, rearing environment) were controlled for. The protective effect of marriage depends on cultural background, with some evidence that increased risks associated with a spouse's foreign background are confounded by family-level factors.

“My children will grow up more healthy than me because of the vaccinations they received”: Using the migrant health trajectory model to understand Vietnamese American parents’ attitudes towards vaccinations and the U.S. healthcare system

“My children will grow up more healthy than me because of the vaccinations they received”: Using the migrant health trajectory model to understand Vietnamese American parents’ attitudes towards vaccinations and the U.S. healthcare system

The risk of long-term opioid use among immigrants: a national registry-linkage study.

We aimed to investigate the association between being an immigrant and long-term prescription opioid use in Norway in 2010-2019. Nested case-control study. The cases were all persons 18 years of age or older with long-term opioid use - that is, the use of prescription opioids longer than 3 months (N=215,642). Cases were matched to four controls who filled at least one opioid prescription, but never developed long-term opioid use in the study period (N=862,568) on sex, age and year of starting long-term/short-term opioid use. Being an immigrant was defined as being born outside of Norway to two foreign-born parents and four foreign-born grandparents. Adjusting for socioeconomic variables and clinical confounders, analyses were stratified on three age groups (18-44 years, 45-67 years and ⩾68 years). For the youngest age group, being an immigrant was inversely associated with long-term opioid use (adjusted odds ratio 0.75; 95% confidence interval [0.72-0.77]) compared with being native-born people. For this age group, the odds ratio differed between people born in Africa (0.56 [0.52-0.62]), Central or South America (0.70 [0.62-0.79]), Europe outside the European Union (EU) (0.71 [0.65-0.77]), Asia including Turkey (0.80 [0.77-0.84]) and EU/European Economic Area (EEA) (0.81 [0.77-0.85]). For the middle age group, increased odds were found for immigrants versus natives (1.05 [1.02-1.08]) in particular for those born in North America (1.26 [1.13-1.40]) and the EU/EEA (1.13 [1.09-1.18]). There was no association in the oldest group. Compared with native-born people, immigrants had lower odds of long-term opioid use among younger adults, higher odds among middle-aged and similar odds among older adults.

Saving behavior among immigrant and native youth

This study investigates the role of migration background in the saving behavior of youth, with a focus on immigrant generation, national origin, and the influence of cultural and socioeconomic factors. Drawing on a nationally representative dataset of over 28,000 secondary school students in the Netherlands, we employ binary logit models to analyze two dimensions of saving behavior: the likelihood of saving money and the propensity to use bank accounts for savings. Our findings reveal significant disparities in saving behavior among immigrant and non-immigrant youth. Migrant youth are less likely to save overall, and when they do, they exhibit a reduced inclination to use bank accounts for their savings. Furthermore, the study uncovers nuanced patterns within the immigrant youth population. First-generation immigrant youth display lower levels of saving and bank account usage compared to their second-generation counterparts, particularly to those with one foreign-born parent. Distinct national origin effects are observed, as Turkish and Moroccan youth exhibit reduced likelihoods of saving, particularly through bank accounts, compared to Surinamese and Dutch Antillean youth. The results also indicate that the disparities in saving behavior across migration background, immigrant generation, and national origin are partly explained by socioeconomic and cultural forces. Socio-economic status and parental education emerge as key determinants, with higher parental socio-economic resources and education levels positively associated with youth saving behavior and bank account usage. Additionally, religious affiliation, particularly among Muslim youth, contributes to variations in saving behavior due to the prohibition of interest-bearing transactions.

Adolescent Health Inequality Across Immigrant Generations

PurposeEvidence on whether the immigrant health paradox (i.e., immigrants having better health than natives of nonmigrant background) extends to children and youth is mixed and often based on self-reported survey data. In this study, we use population-wide administrative microdata from Norwegian demographic and health registries to investigate health inequalities between adolescents with foreign-born and native-born parents, paying specific attention to variation across immigrant generations, origin countries, and types of diagnoses. MethodsIn this registry-based study, we estimate differences in the likelihood of somatic and mental disorders using logistic regression and population-wide health records for adolescents aged 16–20 years (N = 616,835). ResultsChild immigrants and native-born children of immigrants have fewer consultations for somatic and psychiatric diagnoses in adolescence compared to natives, while native-born children with mixed parental background have health outcomes more similar to natives. The differences are most pronounced for mental disorders. Differences across immigrant generations persist when stratifying by country of origin and when looking at specific diagnoses. DiscussionThe findings support the existence of an immigrant health advantage, which we find across various psychiatric and somatic diagnoses and for most immigrant generations. A key task for future research is to explore specific mechanisms underlying these patterns and to address potential inequities in the quality of health care provided to immigrant-background youth.

Cultural stressors, acculturation processes, and mental health among adolescents in Korean multicultural families.

To ascertain, among a sample of Korean multicultural adolescents, the longitudinal predictive effects of acculturative stress and parent-adolescent conflict on depressive symptoms and life satisfaction, both (a) directly and (b) indirectly through Korean and heritage cultural practices and identifications. We analyzed longitudinal data from the nationally representative Korean Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study (MAPS; 2011-2016). The sample consisted of 1,433 households at Wave 3 (the first timepoint used in the present analyses), and 92.7% of families were retained until the end of the study. Adolescents completed measures of acculturative stress and parent-adolescent conflict at Timepoint 1, heritage and Korean cultural practices and identifications at Timepoints 2 and 3, and depressive symptoms and life satisfaction at Timepoint 4. Acculturative stress at Timepoint 1 predicted both depressive symptoms and life satisfaction at Timepoint 4 indirectly through Korean cultural practices and identifications. Parent-adolescent conflict at Timepoint 1 directly predicted depressive symptoms at Timepoint 4 and predicted life satisfaction indirectly through heritage-cultural practices and identifications. These links were invariant across adolescent sex. Among Korean multicultural adolescents, acculturative stressors inhibit engagement in Korean cultural practices and identification as Korean, whereas conflict with parents inhibits engagement in heritage cultural practices and identification with the foreign-born parent's cultural heritage. Decreased Korean and heritage cultural practices and cultural identifications predict increased depressive symptoms and lowered life satisfaction. These findings suggest that culturally stressful experiences can impair psychological functioning among Korean multicultural adolescents by undermining acculturation to both Korean and heritage cultural systems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Influence of parental nativity and perceived neighborhood environment on physical activity and screen time of United States youth

Influence of parental nativity and perceived neighborhood environment on physical activity and screen time of United States youth

In the Eye of the Storm: The Disrupted Career Paths of Young People in the Wake of COVID-19

Abstract Using a survey representative of individuals who left the educational system in France at any level in 2017, we examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people’s probability of being employed between the start of lockdown in March 2020 and July 2020. We find that the COVID-19 pandemic had a strong impact on youth employment. Our results show that young people’s probability of being employed decreased by as much as 3 % during the lockdown period relative to the pre-pandemic baseline. This impact is smaller than that observed in other countries, probably due to the significant measures implemented in France. Our heterogeneity analyses indicate that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people’s labor market integration varied with the type of employment contract, area of study, and, to a lesser extent, having a working-class parent, a foreign-born parent, or residing in a rural area.

“Being the Needle in the Haystack:” The Addition of “Blending” and “Co-Cultural Networking” As Practices to Orbe’s (1998) Co-Cultural Theory

ABSTRACT Using Co-Cultural Theory, we extend the concept of co-culture to the offspring of immigrants. The offspring immigrants are individuals with at least one foreign-born parent. Twenty-two offspring of Turkish immigrants born in the United States were interviewed about communication challenges from a co-cultural theoretical lens. Our analysis revealed that these participants utilize blending and co-cultural networking to process the intercultural tension they face within the US sociocultural landscape. These tensions inform us of how pronounced the US culture and power structure is and its ability to influence offspring immigrants' understanding of their cultural identity.

The role of ethnic-racial and national identities on U.S. Latino adolescents' global identity coherence and adjustment.

Ethnic-racial minoritized adolescents are tasked with concurrently developing and balancing their ethnic-racial and national identities. The present study investigated the extent to which these two social identities were simultaneously associated with U.S. Latino adolescents' psychological adjustment via their associations with global identity coherence. This cross-sectional study included 370 self-identified Latino middle-to-late adolescents (Mage = 16.14 years; SD = 1.12; range: 14-18; 52.8% female; 96.2% U.S.-born; 50% had at least one foreign-born parent) who completed paper surveys in class. Structural equation path analyses with bias-corrected bootstrapping were conducted to test a theoretical mediational model of identity and adjustment. Findings indicated that each social identity component explained significant variance in adolescent psychological adjustment (i.e., lower depressive symptoms; higher life satisfaction and self-esteem) via its unique association with identity coherence (i.e., synthesis and confusion). Results generalized across adolescent gender but were qualified by family immigrant status (i.e., having no foreign-born parent vs. having at least one foreign-born parent). Additionally, there was no support for an alternate model with the order of predictors and mediators reversed. This study highlights the importance of multifaceted, multicomponent social identity development and exemplifies ways in which social position factors may set adolescents onto different developmental pathways. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Transnational Remittance Practices Among Latinos: Analyzing Differences Based on Nativity, Generational Status, and Social Capital

Using data from the Chicago Area Survey (CAS), our study explores the impact of individual characteristics and factors linked to assimilation and ethnic attachment on the financial behaviors of Latinos in the United States. We particularly examine generational variations in the amount and determinants of remittance behavior among Latinos in the Chicago Metropolitan area. Our findings reveal distinct generational patterns in remittance practices as a transnational activity. While second-generation Latinos engage in remittance activities comparably to their foreign-born parents, a significant decrease is observed in third and subsequent generations. Interestingly, remittance behavior appears to be inversely related to traditional assimilation measures. Contradicting straightforward assimilation theories and aligning more with a transnational viewpoint, our multivariate models suggest a positive correlation between remittance activities and various integration indicators for both foreign-born and U.S.-born Latinos in the Chicago area. While a generational decline in remittance behavior supports assimilation theory, the positive ties between socioeconomic status or assimilation indicators and remittance activities prompt a reevaluation of the assimilation model's dominance. Our results suggest a complex interplay between assimilation processes and remittance behavior, indicating that the latter doesn't necessarily decrease as the former progresses. This calls for more research into the intricate relationship between these two dynamics.

Immigrant Parent Legal Status and Children's Health in the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth (SOL Youth).

We assess how immigrant parent legal status shapes children's physical and mental health. Using the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth-a multi-site dataset-we evaluated mean differences in multiple physical and mental health indicators and parents' and children's stress and resilience by parents' (primarily mothers') legal status (N = 1177). We estimated regression models of two overall child health outcomes-allostatic load and any internalized disorder. Average allostatic load was 28% higher (0.36 standard deviations) and average prevalence of any internalizing disorder was 16% points greater for children of foreign-born unauthorized versus US-born parents. Higher levels of socioeconomic and acculturative stress contributed to children of foreign-born unauthorized parents' heightened health risk, while resilience factors-parental health and familial support-protected their health. Children with unauthorized immigrant parents experience both negative physical and mental health outcomes that can have potential long-term costs.

Bicultural identity and adjustment among ethnoracially minoritized and immigrant adolescents

For ethnoracially minoritized and immigrant youth, identity formation involves efforts to integrate social identities that are derived from their ethnic-racial group memberships (i.e., ethnic-racial identity) and their connection to the country in which they reside (i.e., national identity). This study investigated the extent to which these two social identities were simultaneously associated with adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment via their associations with the integration of these identities (i.e., bicultural identity integration) and across adolescents’ identity domains (i.e., global identity coherence). This cross-sectional study (January 2020) included a US ethnoracially diverse sample of 355 adolescents (Mage = 15.95 years; SD = 0.79; 50.4% female; 40.6% Latino/a/x, 29.0% White, 13.2% Black, 8.2% Asian, 7.0% other; 76.1% US-born; 76.9% had at least one foreign-born parent) who completed online surveys in class. Structural equation path analyses with bias-corrected bootstrapping were conducted to test a theoretical sequential mediation model of identity and adjustment. Findings indicated that national American identity explained significant variance in adolescent psychosocial adjustment (i.e., higher academic engagement and self-esteem) via its unique associations with bicultural identity integration and global identity coherence. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses revealed some support for alternate models suggesting that the examined identity constructs may work in tandem with one another to inform adolescent psychosocial adjustment. This study highlights the multifaceted nature of social identity development and provides preliminary evidence regarding how the simultaneous development of adolescents’ ethnic-racial and national identities informs their psychosocial adjustment.

Measuring adaptation with immigrants’ subjective wellbeing: evidence from European countries7

The socio-economic adaptation of immigrants in Europe is the source of great concern both to experts and policy-makers. The literature on the subject regards the traditional approach to measuring the adaptation of foreigners to the host country, invloving the use of indicators such as full-time employment or income level, as insufficient, and advocates a more diversified and inclusive approach. Our study answers this call by taking into account the subjective wellbeing (SWB) of individuals (life satisfaction scores) while researching the socioeconomic adaptation of immigrants in Europe. The main aim of the study is to empirically assess the socio-economic adaptation of firstgeneration immigrants and persons with immigrant background (i.e. those who have at least one immigrant parent) in European states. To this end, we analyse the determinants of the SWB based on the data from the European Social Survey conducted in 2018 in 29 European countries on the population aged 15+. In our model, we use the religious affiliation and religiosity of individuals as an additional measure of cultural identity. We also take into account control variables such as labour market participation, education, marital status and disability. We apply Ordinary Least Squares regression, a method commonly used in analyses of this type. We find that the first-generation immigrant status does not impact directly on the SWB, i.e. the life satisfaction scores of foreign-born persons are similar to those of the local community. What has a more significant influence is the immigrnats’ religious affiliation: Muslims are the religious group dissatisfied with life to the largest extent. Yet, their life satisfaction increases considerably among the second-generation immigrants, i.e. persons who have at least one foreign-born parent. Therefore, our results confirm that the new generation of Muslims with immigrant background born in European host countries is better adapted to the socioeconomic conditions than their parents’ generation or native Muslims.