In Moving to a New Country: Children and Adolescent's Adaptation

Abstract

A primary purpose of this study was to develop and test a model of adaptation for children and adolescents who move to a foreign country. The model was developed from existing literature on adult migration, and from the small fund of knowledge which exists on immigrant children. Adaptation was conceptualized into two kinds - sociocultural and psychological. It was proposedthat sociocultural adaptation would mediate the relationship between a number of independent variables (coping strategies, life events, length of stay, social support, and cultural distance) andthe dependent variable, which was psychological adaptation. Use of Path analytical techniques demonstrated the poor utility of this model. There was no support for a linear relationship between psychological adaptation and sociocultural adaptation. Exploratory, data-based analyses were then carried out to determine significant predictors for sociocultural and psychological adaptation. While a significant set of predictors emerged for sociocultural adaptation, few individual significant variables emerged for psychological adaptation. Limitations of this study are noted.The implications for intervention of this finding to migrant children and adolescents are discussed.