ABSTRACT

1
Family Disruption and Adjustment in Newly
Immigrant Adolescents Levitt, M. J., Levitt, J.,
Bustos, G. L., Crooks, N. A., Hodgetts, J.,
Martelly, M., Milevsky, A., Silver, M. E.,
Barrera, O., Berk, R., Brutus, L., Lane, J.,
Martinez, E., Nyitray, M., Ondar, A., Perez, E.,
Phillpotts, N., Pierre, F., Prosper, F., Sakuma,
S., Sanchez, L., Young, K. Florida
International University Miami-Dade County
Public Schools
Students from Other Lands
ABSTRACT For adolescents, migration to a new
country is a major life transition that is almost
always involuntary and is often accompanied by
disruptions in familial support networks. We
assessed the degree of emotional distress
(depression, lower self concept, psychological
symptoms) experienced by 436 newly immigrant
adolescents as a function of (a) the number of
close family members (parents, siblings, and
grandparents) left behind in the migration and
(b) the amount of post-migration support provided
by close family members. Family disruption was
related to diminished adjustment across all of
the criterion measures. Close family support in
the context of family disruption bolstered
self-esteem and reduced psychological symptoms,
but did not alleviate depression.
INTRODUCTION Migrating to a new country is
a profound life transition that requires
extensive adaptation. One of the most painful
aspects of migration is the disruption of family
relationships that almost always occurs when
individuals leave their home countries to seek a
better life in a new land. Adolescents
may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of
family disruption. Their migration is seldom
voluntary, their friendship networks are lost in
the process, and their need for support from
family members increases as they attempt to
adjust to their unfamiliar surroundings.
The focus of this report is on the extent to
which the emotional adjustment of newly immigrant
adolescents is affected by separation from close
family members and diminished familial support.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In total, 73 of the
adolescents were separated from at least one
close family member. Of these, 14 were
separated from mothers, 19 from fathers, 5 from
both parents, 24 from siblings and 51 from
grandparents. Regression analyses were
conducted to assess the relation of close family
disruption and support to adjustment. Terms
representing interactions between country of
origin and family disruption and support were
entered last in each regression. As Table 1
indicates, family disruption was related to
diminished adjustment across all of the criterion
measures. Close family support in the context of
family disruption bolstered self-esteem and
reduced psychological symptoms, but did not
alleviate depression. A significant
interaction indicated that the effect of close
family disruption on depression was particularly
acute for the English-speaking Caribbean group.
The absence of additional interaction
effects suggests that family disruption leads to
emotional distress regardless of participants
cultural backgrounds. These findings
contribute to an emerging consensus that the
growing numbers of immigrant adolescents in the
U. S. merit the serious attention of researchers
and interventionists.
REFERENCES Antonucci, T. C. (1986). Hierarchical
mapping technique. Generations, 10,
10-12. Harter, S. (1985). Manual for the
Self-Perception Profile for Children. University
of Denver. Kovacs, M. (1985). The children's
depression inventory (CDI). Psychopharmacologica
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Guacci-Franco, N., Levitt, J. L. (1993).
Convoys of social support in childhood and early
adolescence Structure and function.
Developmental Psychology, 29, 811-818. Suárez-Oro
zco, C. Suárez-Orozco, M. (in progress).
Psychological Symptom Checklist. Cambridge, MA
The Harvard Immigration Project.
METHOD Sample and Procedure Personal
interviews were conducted with 436 newly
immigrant adolescents (222 male 214 female)
enrolled in grades 6 through 9 of local area
public schools. Participants had been in
the U. S. for less than one year at the time of
the interview. They originated in
Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, or the
English-speaking Caribbean. Interviews were
conducted at school in the participants home
language. Measures Family disruption
and support were measured with the social convoy
mapping procedure (Antonucci, 1986 Levitt et
al., 1993). Participants included in a social
network map the names of persons most close and
important to them. They then indicated which
persons provided each of six support functions,
representing the domains of affective support,
self-affirmation, and instrumental assistance.
They subsequently identified the specific
relation (parent, sibling, etc.) and location of
each network member. Measures used in the present
analyses were the number of close family members
(parents, siblings, and grandparents) remaining
in the country of origin and the amount of
support currently provided by close family
members. Criterion measures included
self-concept (Harter, 1985), depression (Kovacs,
1985), and a checklist of psychological symptoms
(Suarez-Orozco Suarez-Orozco, in progress).