National Identity and Self-Rated Health Trajectories Among Multicultural Adolescents in Korea: A Piecewise Latent Growth Model

Purpose: This study examined whether changes in national identity are associated with contemporaneous changes in self-rated health (SRH) among multicultural adolescents in Korea, with particular attention to the transition from elementary to middle school. Methods: This study utilized five time-point data (2019-2023) from the second panel of the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study (MAPS) conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute (NYPI). Piecewise latent growth modeling was applied to estimate trajectories before and after the elementary-middle school transition and to test whether piecewise change in national identity predicted piecewise change in SRH, adjusting for gender, body mass index, parental nationality, self-rated economic condition, and stress. Results: In unconditional models, national identity increased across the elementary-school years and decreased in middle school, whereas SRH declined throughout, with a steeper drop during middle school. In conditional models, national identity showed positive, period-specific associations with SRH: higher initial national identity was linked to higher initial SRH, a greater increase in national identity during elementary school corresponded to a minor decline in SRH during the same period, and less decline in national identity during middle school was associated with a smaller concurrent decline in SRH. Conclusion: Among multicultural adolescents, national identity and SRH are intimately associated within developmental periods, and both are sensitive to school-level transitions. Continuous, school- and community-based support that fosters stable, positive national identity across the elementary-middle school transition may promote adolescents’ health.