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Longitudinal Study of Daily Hassles in Adolescents in Arab Muslim Immigrant Families

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Abstract

This study investigated which daily hassles (i.e., parent, school, peer, neighborhood, and resource) were perceived by Arab Muslim immigrant adolescents as most stressful over a three-year time period and according to child’s gender and mother’s immigration status (i.e., refugee or non refugee). Data were collected at three time points during adolescence and analyzed using doubly multivariate analysis of covariance with linear and quadratic trends. School and parent hassles were greater than other hassles at every time point. Main effects of time, immigration status, and father’s employment, but not child’s gender, were statistically significant. School and parent hassles increased while peer and resource hassles decreased over time. Adolescents with refugee mothers reported greater school and neighborhood and fewer parent hassles than those with non refugee mothers. Adolescents with unemployed fathers reported significantly more school and neighborhood hassles. Study findings identify two at risk subgroups: those adolescents with refugee mothers and/or those adolescents with unemployed fathers; and pinpoint problematic daily hassles. Additional research is needed to explore vicarious trauma effects as a potential underlying reason for the pattern of daily hassles noted in adolescents with refugee mothers.

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Acknowledgments

This study research was supported by a grant from the United States National Institutes of Health Institute of Nursing Research, RO1NR 0008504.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Central Florida College of Nursing, 12201 Research Parkway, Orlando, FL, USA

    Karen J. Aroian

  2. Wayne State University College of Nursing, 5557 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI, USA

    Thomas N. Templin & Edythe S. Hough

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  1. Karen J. Aroian
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  2. Thomas N. Templin
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  3. Edythe S. Hough
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Correspondence to Karen J. Aroian.

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Aroian, K.J., Templin, T.N. & Hough, E.S. Longitudinal Study of Daily Hassles in Adolescents in Arab Muslim Immigrant Families. J Immigrant Minority Health 16, 831–838 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-013-9795-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-013-9795-7

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