Acculturation and mental health outcomes in adolescents from asylum seeker and labor migrant families in Israel

Abstract This study explored acculturation’s relationship with mental health, considering social support and self-efficacy as resilience factors among adolescents from migrant families. Participants were 112 adolescents in seventh to ninth grades from labor migrants’ or asylum seekers’ families attending school in Tel Aviv, Israel. They completed measures of mental health, acculturation, social support, and self-efficacy. No differences emerged between groups in mental health or acculturation. Compared to Israeli norms, participants showed high rates of abnormal mental health scores. Separated acculturation predicted lower hyperactivity, integrated acculturation predicted better prosocial behavior, higher social support predicted lower peer problems and better prosocial behavior, and higher self-efficacy predicted fewer peer problems. To conclude, migrant youth in Israel face significant mental health challenges, and acculturation patterns and resilience factors may influence their mental health. The study questions the use of acculturation in predicting mental health and suggests that schools should implement programs to foster empowerment and resilience in this population.