No abstract

The goals of this research were twofold: (1) to explore the structure of the perceived acculturation context in a group of 155 Moroccan adolescents and young adults living in the Netherlands, and (2) to examine to what extent this structure can predict quality of relationships, success, and mental health. The perceived acculturation context turned out to be multidimensional and its dimensions independent. The perceived mainstream context consisted of a tolerance factor and an integration factor while the perceived minority context consisted of a permissiveness to adjust factor and an ethnic vitality factor. A path model in which both the perceived mainstream and minority contexts predicted acculturation outcomes showed a good fit. The effects flowed from context to relationships to success to acculturative stress, were both direct and indirect, and showed the expected signs. Both perceived mainstream context and perceived minority context were more or less equally, though distinctly, important. While the mainstream context was crucial for work success, the minority context remained especially important in leading to school success and good mental health. A good fit was found for a model in which sociocultural adaptation preceded psychological adaptation and within the sociocultural component of adaptation, quality of relationships preceded school success, which, in turn, preceded work success.

The present paper tests a long-overlooked aspect of the association between school management and student mental health. Specifically, the question asked is whether and to what extent quality of information services is associated with students’ feelings of loneliness. Research on this relationship is almost inexistent—most probably because of the rather narrow conceptual framework within which loneliness research has been carried out. The present study attempts to fill this gap by looking at loneliness from a different conceptual angle, that of alienation, and from there to test a couple of hypotheses: (i) the significance of the relationship between quality of information services and student loneliness and (ii) the protective role of quality of informal student networks. Data from 439 undergraduate students from a Moroccan institution of higher education were used for the purpose. Both hypotheses were confirmed. Quality of information services, which a sweeping majority of students (64.2%) rated as unsatisfactory, was negatively associated with feelings of loneliness (β = -.17**, p < .01). To test the protective role of quality of student networks, a moderation analysis was conducted. Quality of student networks proved a significant moderator. Results and implication for educational management and future research directions are discussed.