Acculturative stress and social isolation in multicultural adolescents: A moderated mediation model of social withdrawal and in-school support

This study examines a key psychological mechanism linking acculturative stress to social isolation among multicultural adolescents in South Korea, conceptualizing the mediating role of social withdrawal and the moderating role of in-school support resources. Data from the fifth wave of the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study (MAPS) was collected from 1842 multicultural adolescents residing in South Korea. A moderated mediation model was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results indicated that social withdrawal partially mediated the relationship between acculturative stress and social isolation. While an initial direct relationship between stress and isolation was observed, the primary association of acculturative stress in the full model operated indirectly through social withdrawal. Prominently, this mediation pathway was moderated by in-school support resources. These findings highlight social withdrawal as a key pathway through which acculturative stress is positively linked to isolation. Moreover, they demonstrate that in-school support resources can serve as a critical protective factor, buffering the detrimental outcomes of this process.