Mothers’ Narratives on their Immigration Experiences: Associations with Maternal Relatedness and Adolescent Adjustment

Abstract

We examined the hypothesis that lower maternal relatedness mediates the associations of immigrant mothers’ acculturative stress and lack of benefit finding in immigration with poorer adjustment of their adolescents in terms of more externalizing problems and lower school achievements and self‐worth. Participants were 93 adolescents (47.31% girls, Mage = 16.04) and their mothers (Mage = 45.83) from middle‐class families. Mothers immigrated to Israel from the Former Soviet Union or Western countries (Myears‐in‐Israel = 19.75). We used a multimethod multi‐informant approach that included a novel narrative procedure for assessing acculturative stress and benefit finding. Structural Equation Modeling supported the hypothesis, suggesting that research on and practice with adolescents in immigrant families should consider the meaning parents derive from their immigration experiences.

English-Speaking Immigrants in Israel During the Pandemic: Challenges and Pathways to Resilience

“…Zlotnick et al (2020) found that the number of years in Israel and language acquisition were not related to life satisfaction for English-speaking immigrants to Israel. Sher-Censor and Mizrachi-Zinman (2021, p. 354) noted that “inconsistencies between the acculturation preferences of immigrants and the acculturation preference of their receiving society were likely to result with heightened acculturative stress.”…”

“…Immigrants from English-speaking countries tended to be viewed as less disadvantaged than others and motivated by religious and nationalistic incentives rather than as conventional immigrants seeking socioeconomic benefits (Chiswick et al, 2019). According to Sher-Censor and Mizrachi-Zinman (2021), the strong national ethos in Israel in which society at large, media, and public policy encourage assimilation constitute a combination of unconditional acceptance and pressure for assimilation, which is likely to lead to heightened acculturative stress (Phinney et al, 2001). Western immigrants to Israel, alongside those from the former Soviet Union, tend to retain their cultural heritage and their language (Amit & Bar-Lev, 2015).…”