Migration and School wellbeing Studying influences of parent and peer support, ethnic density and receiving country context.

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between immigrant status and school wellbeing. Data was used from the 2009-2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. A total of 52,120 adolescents living in 10 different countries, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, USA and Wales, were included in the study. Results indicated that immigrant status did not significantly impact school wellbeing when controlling for age, gender and family affluence. Support from one’s best friend did not change this relation. Parent support was found to be a moderator. Only when support from father was low, there was an impact of migration on school wellbeing. When support from father was high and when support from mother was low and high, no significant relation was found between immigration and school wellbeing. Ethnic density also moderated the association between immigrant status and school wellbeing and suggested that the impact of migration on school wellbeing may be stronger when ethnic density is low. Finally, the results indicated that the receiving country in which adolescents live significantly influenced whether there is a significant relation between migration and school wellbeing. Future research should elaborate on these findings by looking into the relationships for different immigrant groups.