Settling In: The Role of Immigrant Generation in School, Anxiety, and Peer-Related Acculturation Challenges for Seventh Grade Students

Immigrant youth represent a growing population in Canada, and ensuring their successful integration with schools is essential to promoting long-term equity. The present analysis contributes to our understanding of acculturation challenges experienced by immigrant youth examining how immigrant generation (first, second, and third), predicts school, anxiety, and peer-related risk and protective factors. A sample of 783 grade seven students across 31 schools completed self-report surveys; responses were analyzed using multilevel models to test for differences across generation. While few differences between groups were found at a conventional significance level, trends suggest increased risks for first-and second-generation youth compared with non-immigrant youth. Specifically, in comparison to non-immigrants, second-generation youth were significantly more likely to report having peers involved in delinquency. In addition, first-generation youth reported marginally lower levels of academic self-confidence and marginally higher levels of internalizing anxiety symptoms compared with non-immigrant youth. Implications and directions for future research are explored.