Acculturation and the health and well-being of U.S. immigrant adolescents

A social network analysis of substance use among immigrant adolescents in six European cities

“…Language spoken at home is, moreover, considered as a proxy of ethnicity (Bhopal, 2004) and a proxy for the degree of acculturation (Yu et al, 2003), which…”

“…The findings of these studies, which have largely focused on the situation of Hispanics, and other migrant groups in the US, are inconclusive (Almeida et al, 2012;Castañeda et al, 2015;Georgiades et al, 2006;Gil et al, 2000;Kim et al, 2002;Lara et al, 2005;Lorenzo-Blanco et al, 2011;Prado et al, 2009;Yu et al, 2003). Some have suggested that adolescents with a migration background are more likely than their counterparts without a migration background to adopt risky health behaviours (such as drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes or marijuana) (Brindis et al, 1995;Delforterie et al, 2014;Prado et al, 2009;Walsh et al, 2014).…”

“…Some studies indicate that adolescents with a migration background in schools with a larger proportion of pupils who are non-migrants are more likely to have relational problems with their peers at school (Derluyn et al, 2008;Murad et al, 2003). Others have shown that homophilous adolescents had poorer social integration, reinforcing the lower social position of migrant groups (Yu et al, 2003), fostering prejudice (Aboud et al, 2003),and, finally, limiting access to health services (McPherson et al, 2001). This may have detrimental consequences for health behaviours as well.…”

Acculturation and physical activity among immigrants: a systematic review

“…Controlling sociodemograhic factors is important as scientists have argued that acculturation may be a proxy for other variables. For instance, children in immigrant families are more likely than native-born children to be poor, to live in crowded housing, to be uninsured, to lack a source of health care, and to report poor health (Yu et al 2003). Likewise, English language use is associated with increased parental education, child health, and neighborhood safety, as well as decreased poverty and parental physical inactivity (Liu et al 2009).…”

National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month — October 1–31, 2015

“…First, past work has found that health disparities are associated with English language proficiency rather than specific language spoken. For instance, a national study of 6th-to 10th-graders found that students who speak another language at home are more likely to report being bullied than non-Hispanic white youths who speak English at home (Yu, Huang, Schwalberg, Overpeck, & Kogan, 2003). If information is being gathered for clinical purposes, both specific language and proficiency, however, need to be collected (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health, 2011).…”