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Being a Young Migrant in Italy: The Effect of Perceived Social Support in Adolescence

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Abstract

Parental and peer support seems to be a favourable determining factor in the acculturation process among young immigrants. We aimed to assess the level of perceived support among first- and second-generation adolescent immigrants and compare it to that perceived by the adolescents from the host population. Using Italian HBSC survey data collected in 2013–2014, first- and second-generation immigrants aged 11, 13 and 15 years were classified according to their ethnic background as being from Western countries, Eastern European countries, or from non-Western/non-European countries. The domains of teacher, classmate, family, and peer support was measured through multidimensional, standardised, validated scales. Analyses were run on a 47,399 valid responses (2195 from Western countries, 2424 from Eastern European countries, and 2556 from non-Western/non-European countries). Adolescent immigrants from Eastern European countries and non-Western/non-European countries reported significantly lower support than their peers from the host population in all explored domains. Girls perceived a lower level of classmate and family support compared to boys across all ethnic backgrounds. We observed two different immigration patterns: the Western pattern, from more affluent countries, and the Eastern pattern. Among the latter, second-generation immigrants showed the lowest level of support in all domains. Increasing family connections and developing peer networks should favour the acculturation process among adolescent immigrants.

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Funding

Funding was provided by Italian Ministry of Health (Grant No. cap.4393/2005-CCM )

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health and Paediatrics, University of Torino, Piazza Polonia, 94, 10126, Torino, Italy

    Paola Dalmasso, Alberto Borraccino, Lorena Charrier, Franco Cavallo & Patrizia Lemma

  2. Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Giacomo Lazzeri

  3. Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy

    Paola Berchialla

Authors
  1. Paola Dalmasso
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  2. Alberto Borraccino
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  3. Giacomo Lazzeri
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  4. Lorena Charrier
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  5. Paola Berchialla
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  6. Franco Cavallo
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  7. Patrizia Lemma
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Contributions

PD conducted the statistical analyses and wrote the first draft of the manuscript; AB, PL edited the draft and completed the manuscript, both made the greatest contribution to the paper; GL, LC and PB contributed to the paper revision and to the final manuscript editing. PD, AB, PL, FC, LC, PB and GL participated in designing the study and data collection as members of the HBSC Italian team. All authors have critically revised the manuscript and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alberto Borraccino.

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Dalmasso, P., Borraccino, A., Lazzeri, G. et al. Being a Young Migrant in Italy: The Effect of Perceived Social Support in Adolescence. J Immigrant Minority Health 20, 1044–1052 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0671-8

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