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. 2024 Aug 25;96(8):1901–1916. doi: 10.1002/jad.12390

Changes in peer belonging, school climate, and the emotional health of immigrant, refugee, and non‐immigrant early adolescents

Kimberly Thomson 1,2,3,✉, Carly Magee 2, Monique Gagné Petteni 2,3, Eva Oberle 2, Katholiki Georgiades 4, Kimberly Schonert‐Reichl 2,5, Magdalena Janus 2,4, Martin Guhn 2, Anne Gadermann 2,3
PMCID: PMC11618723  PMID: 39183382

Abstract

Introduction

Early adolescents who are new to Canada experience dual challenges of navigating developmental changes and multiple cultures. This study examined how changes in early adolescents’ emotional health from ages 9 to 12 differed by immigration background, and to what extent peer belonging and supportive school climate protected or promoted their emotional health.

Methods

This study drew upon linked self‐report and administrative data. Across 10 school districts in British Columbia, Canada, N = 4479 non‐immigrant, immigrant, and refugee adolescents reported on their peer belonging, school climate, and emotional health (life satisfaction, optimism, self‐esteem, sadness, worries) in Grades 4 and 7, using the Middle Years Development Instrument. Immigration background including immigration class (economic, family, refugee) and generation status (first, second) were obtained from linked Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada data. Multi‐level modeling assessed the effect of time (grade level), immigration group, and changes in peer belonging and school climate on changes in self‐reported emotional health. Analyses were adjusted for gender, English first language, and low family income.

Results

Immigrant and refugee adolescents reported worse emotional health in Grade 4 compared to non‐immigrants. Non‐immigrant and immigrant adolescents reported declines in emotional health from Grades 4 to 7. In contrast, first‐generation refugee adolescents reported significant improvements in life satisfaction, and first‐ and second‐generation refugees reported improvements in worries over this period. Perceived improvements in peer belonging and school climate were associated with positive changes in emotional health for all adolescents.

Conclusions

Changes in adolescents’ emotional health from Grades 4 to 7 differed between immigrants, refugees, and non‐immigrants. Immigrants and refugees who enter adolescence with lower emotional health than their non‐immigrant peers may particularly benefit from culturally responsive school and community‐based interventions.

Keywords: early adolescence, emotional health, immigration, peer belonging, refugees, school climate, social support

Adolescence is a developmental period typically associated with declines in well‐being and increases in mental health problems, as well as a time of identity formation (Erikson, 1968; Kessler et al., 2005; Schonert‐Reichl, 2011; Shoshani & Slone, 2013). Stressors including changes within peer groups, increased academic and family expectations, and physical changes including puberty can all affect emotional health (Eccles & Roeser, 2013; Eccles, 2004). More than half of adults with mental health problems report first experiencing symptoms before age 14 (Kessler et al., 2005). In Canada, nearly 40% of young people under age 15 have an immigration background (themselves or a parent are born outside of Canada) (Statistics Canada, 2017). Young people with immigrant and refugee backgrounds have unique experiences and circumstances that may increase or decrease their risk of emotional health problems as they reach adolescence (Beiser et al., 2002; Bronstein & Montgomery, 2011). In addition to experiencing the developmental stressors of their peers, young people arriving from a new country can experience acculturative stress and discrimination that are negatively associated with self‐esteem and psychological adjustment (Berry, 2006; Costigan & Dokis, 2006; Oxman‐Martinez et al., 2012; Sirin, Ryce, et al., 2013). Conversely, strengths in connectedness to community, supportive relationships with peers and adults, and stable settlement in the host country have been positively associated with young people's mental health (Emerson et al., 2022; Fazel et al., 2012; Georgiades et al., 2007).

As international conflicts and climate crises increase displacement and migration around the world (McAuliffe & Triandafyllidou, 2021), it becomes increasingly important to include adolescents’ perspectives in research to identify potential inequities in young people's emotional health in these contexts and the structures and supports that can be implemented to address them. The purpose of the current study was to examine if and how self‐reported emotional health differed between immigrant, refugee, and non‐immigrant young people in their transition from middle childhood to adolescence. A second objective was to investigate the potential promotive or protective role of changes in peer belonging and supportive school climates through this developmental transition.

1. RISK AND RESILIENCE FACTORS FOR IMMIGRANT‐ORIGIN ADOLESCENTS

While there is substantial heterogeneity in the experiences of immigrant and refugee children and adolescents, several circumstances may increase their likelihood of experiencing adversity compared to non‐immigrants. Research suggests, for example, that immigrant‐origin children and adolescents experience discrimination and language barriers, and are less likely to be accepted by their peers when they first enter school compared to their non‐immigrant classmates (Motti‐Stefanidi & Masten, 2017; Motti‐Stefanidi, 2014; Titzmann, 2014). Suarez‐Orozco and colleagues (2018) have proposed a risk and resilience framework for young people with at least one foreign‐born parent that illustrates the challenges of meeting the typical developmental tasks and psychological adjustments of adolescence, in addition to acculturative tasks arising from navigating two or more cultures including sets of values, expectations, and measures of success. For example, typical developmental tasks of forming a secure identity and finding acceptance among one's peers can be more complicated for immigrant‐origin adolescents because of the challenges of finding one's place in two or more cultures, which can sometimes conflict (i.e., “cultural distance”) (Shweder et al., 2007; Suárez‐Orozco et al., 2018). For this reason, it has been suggested that programs and interventions to support immigrant‐origin children and adolescents must be culturally responsive—that is, adapted to the reality of their context and drawing on their strengths that promote well‐being as opposed to focusing solely on their vulnerabilities (Castro‐Olivo, 2014; d'Abreu et al., 2019).

The integrative risk and resilience framework for immigrant‐origin children and youth draws from the bio‐ecological systems model of child development (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006; Bronfenbrenner, 1979), risk and resilience developmental framework (Masten, 2014), and integrative models for developmental competencies and resilience of minority children and adolescents (García et al., 1996; Motti‐Stefanidi & Masten, 2017). It illustrates that the development and adaptation of immigrant‐origin children and adolescents are influenced by multiple interacting forces ranging from larger global and national socio‐political contexts to more immediate social interactions with family, teachers, and peers (Suárez‐Orozco et al., 2018). Importantly, resilience is seen as context‐dependent, driven by a series of processes in the social environment, rather than a trait inherent to certain individuals (Suárez‐Orozco et al., 2018). Processes can be “protective” in the context of adversity and “promotive” for individuals in both high and low adversity contexts (Motti‐Stefanidi & Masten, 2017; Sameroff, 2000). Supportive relationships with peers and adults in schools, for example, can affect self‐acceptance and belonging and can be considered promotive or protective depending on an individuals’ experience of adversity.

2. IMPACTS OF GENERATIONAL STATUS AND IMMIGRATION CLASS ON ADOLESCENT EMOTIONAL HEALTH

Distinguishing the experiences of immigrant‐origin adolescents based on their generational status and immigration class may also help illuminate differences in mental health trajectories. To date, the limited research examining immigration experiences comparing between these immigration subgroups has provided mixed evidence. It has been suggested that navigating the challenges of adjusting to a new culture may be particularly stressful for young people who are first‐generation immigrants (i.e., born outside of Canada [Statistics Canada, 2018]) compared to those who are second‐generation (i.e., at least one parent born outside Canada [Statistics Canada, 2018]). First‐generation immigrants have potentially had to separate from friends and family, may be less adept with the language, and may need to adapt to a new school and education system (Sirin, Ryce, et al., 2013; Suárez‐Orozco et al., 2018). Research in Sweden, for example, found no difference in the self‐reported mental health of second‐generation immigrant‐origin 12‐year‐olds compared to non‐immigrant adolescents of the same age (Dekeyser et al., 2011). Conversely, other research has suggested that second‐generation adolescents may have worsened mental health than their first‐generation peers due to stronger ties to their adopted country leading to potentially increased conflicts with parents (Sirin, Ryce, et al., 2013; Suárez‐Orozco et al., 2018). Still other research has found no differences between first‐ and second‐generation adolescents in the effects of acculturation stress on mental health symptoms (Sirin, Ryce, et al., 2013).

Research with Canadian populations also finds that children and adolescents from immigrant families can have the same or better mental health (i.e., fewer behavioral and emotional problems) than non‐immigrant children and adolescents when experiencing family poverty (Beiser et al., 2002; Georgiades et al., 2007). This phenomenon, known as the “healthy immigrant effect,” describes that immigrant populations often have better health than the host country population, attributed to immigration selection factors and cultural factors, although the health of the immigrant population typically declines to that of the non‐immigrant population the longer their residence in that country (Vang et al., 2017). In line with this observation, other research in Canada has found that second‐generation immigrant children and adolescents have higher diagnostic prevalence of mental health disorders compared to first‐generation immigrant children and adolescents (Gadermann et al., 2022).

Immigrant class refers to the circumstances by which individuals have arrived in the adopted country. In Canada, potential immigrants are selected for entry based on their ability to contribute to the economy (economic class), for reunification based on sponsorship from a Canadian family member (family class), or due to a well‐founded fear of returning to their home country (refugee class) (Statistics Canada, 2019). Young people can immigrate as a dependent on a parent's application if they are under age 22 and do not have a spouse or common‐law partner (Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 2023). Among these classification groups, young people who arrive as refugees may have experienced particularly challenging circumstances that increase risks to their emotional health. On average, refugee children and adolescents have a higher prevalence of mental health problems than non‐immigrant children and adolescents, often due to pre‐migration trauma (Bronstein & Montgomery, 2011; Montgomery, 2010). Previous research finds that forced displacement has particularly negative effects on mental health, and that these effects often persist for children and adolescents despite often improved access to basic services and supports (Fazel et al., 2012). However other research finds that for a majority of refugee adolescents, mental health problems improve after immigrating to the new country, particularly after being resettled for more than 4 years (Keles et al., 2018; Montgomery, 2010). In a recent Norwegian study, 60% of refugee adolescents 3 years after resettlement grew up with psychological adjustment that was considered healthy or resilient, with acculturative stress (discrimination, frustration, identity crisis) being a strong predictor of adjustment (Keles et al., 2018).

3. ROLE OF PEER BELONGING AND SCHOOL CLIMATE ON IMMIGRANT‐ORIGIN EMOTIONAL HEALTH

While early life stressors heighten the risk for future mental health problems, they do not determine life course outcomes. From an ecological perspective of human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 2006), there are multiple contexts in which adolescents’ healthy adjustment can be promoted, including positive interactions with peers and adults. Social connectedness, in particular, has been found to predict adolescent and adult well‐being beyond the effects of early family socioeconomic disadvantage (Gadermann et al., 2015; Olsson et al., 2013). Schools in particular are an important social context for children and adolescents that can promote diversity and belonging. Within the immigrant‐origin risk and resilience framework for children and youth (Suárez‐Orozco et al., 2018), schools are a near‐daily interactive setting shaped by the dominant socio‐political values and policies of the host culture that have potential to promote a sense of safety, cohesion, trust, and engagement, as well as scaffold acculturation tasks such as language acquisition and identity development. Research in Canada with adolescents ages 10–18 has found that perceived support from adults at school contributed to immigrant origin adolescents’ sense of school belonging, and that perceived support from school peers contributed to school belonging and self‐worth (Gagné et al., 2014). Conversely, moving between schools has been associated with worsened mental health among adolescents with immigration backgrounds (Sirin, Ryce, et al., 2013).

In cross‐sectional research that informed the current study, refugee children attending Grade 4 in British Columbia reported higher life satisfaction, optimism, self‐concept, and lower sadness when they concurrently reported greater support from adults at school, a supportive school climate, peer belonging, and supportive adults at home, compared to other refugee children who reported less supportive environments (Emerson et al., 2022). A remaining knowledge gap is to what extent emotional health changes across the transition from middle childhood to adolescence and how these changes may differ depending on adolescents’ immigration backgrounds. A further question is how changes in peer relationships and school climate may be associated with changes in emotional health, particularly for adolescents who are new to Canada. For example, longitudinal research with Grade 10 students in the United States found that emotional health among first and second‐generation immigrants improved over time, and that associations between acculturative stress and internalizing problems (anxiety and depressive symptoms) were moderated by social support (Sirin, Gupta, et al., 2013).

4. OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESES

The current study investigated changes in the emotional health of immigrant, refugee, and non‐immigrant adolescents across 3 years (ages 9–12), examining the extent to which perceived changes in peer belonging and school climate were associated with these patterns. Specifically, this study addressed two questions: (1) How does emotional health change from middle childhood to early adolescence for immigrant, refugee, and non‐immigrant adolescents? (2) To what extent are perceived peer belonging and supportive school climate associated with changes self‐reported emotional health through this transition? Where applicable, we also explored to what extent associations between changes in peer belonging, school climate, and emotional health differed based on immigration background. We hypothesized that first‐generation immigrants and refugees would report initially lower but improving emotional health from middle childhood to adolescence, whereas second‐generation immigrants, refugees, and non‐immigrants would report the developmentally‐typical declines in emotional health from middle childhood to adolescence. We also hypothesized that peer belonging and school climate would partially account for any observed differences in how emotional health changes from Grades 4 to 7. Finally, we also hypothesized that increases in peer belonging and a supportive school climate would be associated with greater improvements in emotional health for immigrant and refugee adolescents compared to non‐immigrant adolescents, across the study period.

5. METHODS

5.1. Data source

This study utilized linked data from the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) (Human Early Learning Partnership, 2017), and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 2017) (database linkage rate = 98%). The study cohort included individuals who attended school in one of 10 school districts who completed the MDI survey in both Grades 4 and 7 within the study period (2010–2017). These 10 districts captured the majority of the province's immigrant population (78%) (Statistics Canada, 2017). The student response rate on the MDI surveys typically averages 80%.

MDI Grades 4 and 7 data could be linked if the Grade 7 data collection occurred 3 years after the first data collection in participating school districts, and if adolescents and families remained in BC during the 3‐year study period. Adolescents with linked data compared to those with data only in Grade 4 were more likely to reside in higher income neighborhoods compared to lower income neighborhoods, and were more likely to have immigrated to Canada as economic or family class immigrants compared to immigrating as refugees or being born in Canada, p < .001. Those with linked data reported significantly higher self‐concept and lower sadness and worries in Grade 4 compared to those without linked data. No differences were observed regarding life satisfaction, peer belonging, or school belonging.

5.2. Procedure

Adolescents self‐reported their emotional health in Grades 4 and 7 using the MDI, a self‐report survey of children and adolescents’ social and emotional development and developmental assets including social support (Guhn et al., 2012; Schonert‐Reichl et al., 2013). The MDI was developed in consultation with community and school partners to monitor trends in children and adolescents’ health and well‐being associated with their social environments, and has been implemented in numerous jurisdictions across Canada and internationally (Gregory et al., 2018; Oberle et al., 2010; Schonert‐Reichl et al., 2013; Thomson et al., 2018). Previous research has found the MDI to have good psychometric properties, demonstrating evidence for good internal consistency and convergent validity within scales, and high correlations between the sadness and worries scales and between the life satisfaction, self‐concept, and optimism scales (Schonert‐Reichl et al., 2013).

Data were collected at a population‐level (i.e., included all students within participating school districts) using a passive consent protocol. Parents/guardians were given 4 weeks’ notice to inquire about the study and withdraw their children from participation. Schools and classroom teachers could also opt‐out of participation. Adolescents were read an assent script and were provided a choice to do an alternative activity to the survey that would not identify to the class that they were not participating. Ethics approval and data linkage was obtained from the University of British Columbia Research Ethics Board. Individual linkage across data sources was completed by Population Data BC through a probabilistic–deterministic linkage approach, using Personal Education and Personal Health Numbers (Population Data BC, 2014).

5.3. Measures

5.3.1. Immigration background

Adolescents’ immigration background was determined based on either themselves or a parent having an Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) record, and the class of entry into Canada (economic, family, refugee class immigrants). Economic immigrants are immigrants who have been selected for their ability to contribute to the economy; Family immigrants are immigrants granted entry based on sponsorship from a Canadian family member; Refugees are immigrants granted entry due to a well‐founded fear of returning to their home country (Statistics Canada, 2019). IRCC data also provided the child's age at arrival, source region (Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Oceania), and generation status (First generation: adolescent was born outside of Canada; Second generation: adolescent's parents were born outside of Canada) (Statistics Canada, 2018).

5.3.2. Emotional health

Adolescents self‐reported their emotional health in Grades 4 and 7 (life satisfaction, self‐concept, optimism, sadness, and worries) using five scales of the MDI (Schonert‐Reichl et al., 2013). Satisfaction with Life (5 items) was measured using the Satisfaction with Life Scale adapted for Children (SWLS‐C) (Gadermann et al., 2011, 2010), a validated children's measure based on the Satisfaction with Life Scale for adults (Diener et al., 1985). Self‐Concept (3 items) was adapted from the Marsh Self‐Description Questionnaire (Marsh, 1988). Optimism (3 items) was adapted from the previously validated Optimism Resiliency Inventory Subscale (Noam & Goldstein, 1998). Sadness (3 items) and Worries (3 items) were adapted from the previously validated Seattle Personality Questionnaire for Young School‐Age Children (Kusche et al., 1998). Adolescents rated their agreement with a series of statements using a 5‐point Likert type response format (1 = disagree a lot to 5 = agree a lot). Example items, means, and standard deviations, as well as Cronbach's alphas and correlations between all MDI variables used in this study are presented in the Supporting Information Material S1.

5.3.3. Peer belonging and school climate

Adolescents reported on their perceived social support using two scales of the MDI. Peer belonging (3 items) was adapted from the Relational Provisional Loneliness Questionnaire (Hayden‐Thomson, 1989). School climate (3 items) was adapted from the School Climate Scale (Battistich et al., 1997). On both scales, adolescents rated their agreement with a series of statements using a 5‐point Likert type response format (1 = disagree a lot to 5 = agree a lot). Scale items are presented in the Supporting Information Material S1.

5.3.4. Sociodemographic covariates

Adolescents reported their first language learned at home (“English” or “not English”) on the MDI. Information about gender (“boy” or “girl”) was drawn from school district records. Only these two gender options were available at the time of data collection. A proxy for low family income was obtained from records of whether adolescents’ families had ever received subsidies for provincial health plan premiums (“no,” “yes”). Self‐rated English reading ability (rated from 1 = very hard to 4 = very easy) in Grades 4 and 7 was also measured on the MDI for use in sensitivity analyses. Likewise, neighborhood immigrant density (proportion of immigrants within each neighborhood) was obtained from IRCC records and used in sensitivity analyses.

5.4. Analyses

Descriptive statistics by immigration group were calculated for all study variables. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the effect of time (0 = Grade 4, 1 = Grade 7), immigration group (first and second‐generation immigrants, first and second‐generation refugees, and non‐immigrants), and repeated measures of peer belonging and supportive school climate on repeated measures of emotional health (satisfaction with life, optimism, self‐concept, sadness, and worries). First, simple linear regressions were used to estimate the effect of immigration group on emotional health variables cross‐sectionally in Grades 4 and 7. Multilevel growth models with linear regression (Bell et al., 2013) were then used to examine (1) changes in adolescents’ emotional health from Grades 4 to 7 and the extent to which this change differed by immigration group (2) associations between changes in peer belonging and a supportive school climate on changes in emotional health from Grades 4 to 7. A follow‐up analysis explored whether the associations between social support variables and emotional health outcomes differed by immigration group. Analyses were conducted for five outcome measures: satisfaction with life, optimism, self‐concept, sadness, and worries.

In the multi‐level growth models, repeated measures (level‐1 units) were nested within individuals (level‐2 units) which were nested within schools (level‐3 units). Due to the nested structure of the data (repeated‐measures on individuals; adolescents nested within schools), we first calculated intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) to examine the proportion of variance in self‐reported emotional health attributable to differences in schools. To account for the nested structure of the data we allowed intercepts to randomly vary across individual IDs (nested within schools) and school IDs. Intercept only models were run to calculate intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC's) for school ID and individual ID nested within schools. ICC's indicated that 1%–2% of the variance in emotional health indicators was attributable to between school variation whereas 21%–33% was attributable to between individual variation. Despite its low contribution to variance explained, school ID was kept in the model for its theoretical relevance. Separate models were run for each of the five outcome variables. We present 95% confidence intervals (CI) and p‐values for all effect estimates. All p‐values of less than .05 indicated statistical significance. All analyses were calculated in SAS statistical software (SAS Institute, 2013) and multilevel growth models were conducted using PROC MIXED (Bell et al., 2013).

Model 1 included time, immigration group, gender, the interaction between gender and time, low family income, and English first language. The interaction between gender and time was included to account for a gender difference identified in prior research and in the current sample that girls exhibit steeper declines in emotional health during this period than boys (Dekker et al., 2007; Whalen et al., 2016). In the current model the coefficient for time (0 = Grade 4; 1 = Grade 7) estimated the average change in the emotional health variable from Grades 4 to 7 for the reference group (non‐immigrants). The coefficients for the immigration background dummy variables (first‐generation immigrant, first‐generation refugee, second‐generation immigrant, second‐generation refugee) estimated the difference in emotional health variables for these immigrant groups compared to the reference group in Grade 4 (time = 0). The coefficients for the interactions between immigration background dummy variables and time estimated the change in the slope for time for each immigrant group compared to non‐immigrants. That is, these coefficients reflected how change in emotional health from Grades 4 to 7 differed by immigration group. Model 2 included peer belonging and school climate from Grades 4 to 7 in addition to all variables included in Model 1 to examine the main effects of peer belonging and school climate on changes in emotional health for all children from Grades 4 to 7. A follow‐up analysis examined interactions between immigration background and social support variables in addition to all variables included in Model 2, to examine potential differences in the associations between social support variables and emotional health by immigration subgroup. We tested interactions sequentially, first immigration group × peer belonging and then immigration group × school climate. Interactions were retained in models only if they were statistically significant and improved model fit according to AIC criterion.

5.5. Sensitivity analyses

To examine the possibility that immigrant and refugee adolescents’ changes in self‐reported emotional health reflected changes in English reading ability over time, we examined the extent to which the findings were sensitive to adjustments for self‐rated English reading ability in Grades 4 and 7. Based on risk and resilience factors identified in the literature, we also examined whether results were sensitive to neighborhood immigrant density and whether changes in emotional health from Grades 4 to 7 were moderated by age at arrival in Canada among first‐generation immigrants and refugees only (Emerson et al., 2023; Georgiades et al., 2007; Suárez‐Orozco et al., 2018).

5.6. Missing data

In the linked sample, there was no missing data on gender or immigration background. Missing data on all other variables ranged from 5% to 7%. Between 10% and 11% of observations had missing data on at least one variable across models. We imputed missing data using multiple imputation with fully conditional specification methods and 20 imputations (Graham et al., 2007).

6. RESULTS

6.1. Sample demographics

Table 1 shows descriptive statistics for all study variables. Thirty‐two percent of adolescents in the sample were considered immigrant‐origin (themselves or a parent born outside of Canada). Twenty‐seven percent of the sample were first‐ or second‐generation economic or family class immigrants (from here on referred to as “immigrants”) and five percent were first‐ or second‐generation refugee class immigrants (from here on referred to as “refugees”). Age in Grade 4 ranged from 7.49 to 10.93 (mean = 9.27, standard deviation [SD] = 0.58) and age in Grade 7 ranged from 10.74 to 13.79 (mean = 12.41, SD = 0.34). The mean age at arrival in Canada for first‐generation immigrants was 4.93 years (SD = 2.73) and for first‐generation refugees 4.16 years (SD = 2.29). Approximately half of non‐immigrant adolescents (50%) and just over half of immigrant and refugee adolescents (56%) were boys. English was the first language learned for 84% of non‐immigrants, compared to 35%–68% of immigrants and refugees. The most common non‐English first languages were Cantonese, Mandarin, and Punjabi. Compared to non‐immigrants, a higher proportion of first and second‐generation immigrants and refugees were from families receiving subsidies (indicating low family income). The majority of immigrants originated from Asia (55%–76%).

Table 1.

Demographics of the sample (N = 4479).

First generation immigrants (N = 528) First generation refugees (N = 67) Second generation immigrants (N = 686) Second generation refugees (N = 155) Non‐immigrants (N = 3043)
n % n % n % n % n %
Gender
Girl 241 45.6 26 38.8 302 44.0 70 45.2 1521 50.0
Boy 287 54.4 41 61.2 384 56.0 85 54.8 1522 50.0
First language
English 359 68.0 36 53.7 243 35.4 57 36.8 2565 84.3
Other 150 28.4 23 34.3 401 58.5 86 55.5 313 10.3
Missing 19 3.6 8 11.9 42 6.1 12 7.7 165 5.4
Low family income
No 276 52.3 31 46.3 413 60.2 70 45.2 2402 78.9
Yes 252 47.7 36 53.7 273 39.8 85 54.8 641 21.1
Region
Africa 13 2.5 8 11.9 19 2.8 M M – –
America 66 12.5 7 10.5 44 6.1 25 14.8 – –
Asia 365 69.1 47 70.2 521 76.0 86 55.5 – –
Europe 82 15.5 M M 86 12.5 37 23.9 – –
Oceania – – M M 16 2.3 M M – –
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
English reading ability Grade 4 3.42 0.65 3.40 0.72 3.58 0.58 3.55 0.60 3.64 0.56
English reading ability Grade 7 3.70 0.52 3.63 0.52 3.75 0.50 3.73 0.48 3.77 0.47
Neighborhood immigrant density 45.93 11.50 46.67 10.36 44.20 11.42 43.62 11.22 39.29 39.29
Age at arrival in Canada 4.93 2.73 4.16 2.29 – – – – – –
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*Note: M = masked. Cell sizes <5 are masked and an additional cell is also masked to prevent the ability to discern the small cell size. English reading ability rated from 1 = very hard to 4 = very easy. Neighbourhood immigrant density = percent of immigrants in neighbourhood 2011.

6.2. Immigration groups

In preliminary analyses, changes in emotional health, peer belonging, and school climate did not substantially differ between economic and family class immigrants and, therefore, these groups were combined into one immigrant category. Despite the small sample size of refugee adolescents limiting analytic power to detect differences between groups, this subgroup was analyzed independently from economic and family immigrants based on their unique immigration circumstances and the rare opportunity to include refugee adolescents’ perspectives on their emotional health, peer belonging, and school climate. Each immigration group was distinguished between first and second‐generation status.

6.3. Unadjusted mean differences between immigrant groups in emotional health, peer belonging, and school climate in Grades 4 and 7

Unadjusted mean differences in emotional health, peer belonging, and school climate in Grades 4 and 7 are presented in Figure 1 and in the Supporting Information Material S1. Results from the simple linear regression indicated that in Grade 4, first‐generation immigrants and refugees reported statistically significantly lower life satisfaction (b's = −0.22 [95% CI: −0.30, −0.14] and −0.26 [95% CI: −0.47, −0.05]), lower self‐concept (b's = −0.17 [95% CI: −0.24, −0.11] and −0.18 [95% CI: −0.36, −0.01]), and higher worries (b's = 0.24 [95% CI: 0.12, 0.36] and 0.44 [95% CI: 0.12, 0.77]) compared to non‐immigrants, as well as lower peer belonging (b's = −0.14 [95% CI: −0.23, −0.06] and −0.24 [95% CI: −0.47, −0.01]). First‐generation immigrants additionally reported higher sadness (b = 0.12 [95% CI: 0.03, 0.22]) and lower supportive school climate (b = −0.08 [95% CI: −0.16, −0.01]) than non‐immigrants. Second‐generation immigrants reported lower life satisfaction (b = −0.10 [95% CI: −0.04, −0.17]), lower self‐concept (b = −0.08 [95% CI: −0.14, −0.03]), higher sadness (b = 0.12 [95% CI: 0.03, 0.21]), higher worries (b = 0.12 [95% CI: 0.01, 0.22]), and lower peer belonging (b = −0.12 [95% CI: −0.20, −0.05]) in Grade 4 compared to non‐immigrants. Second‐generation refugees reported higher sadness (b = 0.25 [95% CI: 0.08, 0.42]) and worries (b = 0.29 [95% CI: 0.08, 0.50]) in Grade 4 compared to non‐immigrants.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

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Changes in self‐reported emotional health, peer belonging, and school climate from Grades 4–7, by immigration group (unadjusted).

In Grade 7, first‐ and second‐generation immigrants reported lower life satisfaction (b's = −0.18 [95% CI: −0.26, −0.11] and −0.16 [95% CI: −0.23, −0.09]), lower self‐concept (b's = −0.09 [95% CI: −0.16, −0.02] and −0.13 [95% CI: −0.20, −0.07]) and higher worries (b's = 0.12 [95% CI: 0.01, 0.24] and 0.12 [95% CI: 0.01, 0.22]) than non‐immigrants. First‐generation immigrants additionally reported lower peer belonging (b = −0.09 [95% CI: −0.17, −0.01]) in Grade 7 compared to non‐immigrants. Second‐generation immigrants additionally reported lower optimism (b = −0.11 [95% CI: −0.18, −0.04]) in Grade 7 compared to non‐immigrants. There were no statistically significant differences between first‐ or second‐generation refugees and non‐immigrants in Grade 7 in reported emotional health, peer belonging, or school climate.

Means and standard deviations are presented in the Supporting Information S1.

6.4. Associations between immigration group, changes in peer belonging and school climate, and changes in emotional health from Grades 4 to 7

Correlations between all study variables are presented in the Supporting Information Material S1. Multi‐level growth model results are reported in Table 2. Model 1 results indicated that from Grades 4 to 7 among non‐immigrant adolescents (the reference group), satisfaction with life (b = −0.12 [95% CI: −0.18, −0.06]), self‐concept (b = −0.28 [95% CI: −0.33, −0.23]), and optimism (b = −0.22 [95% CI: −0.28, −0.16]) significantly decreased, sadness significantly increased (b = 0.18 [95% CI: 0.10, 0.25]) and worries did not change (b = −0.02 [95% CI: −0.12, 0.07]). Interactions between first‐generation refugee status and time were also statistically significant in models predicting satisfaction with life (b = 0.29 [95% CI: 0.01, 0.56]), self‐concept (b = 0.29 [95% CI: 0.04, 0.53]), and worries (b = −0.43 [95% CI: −0.85, −0.01]). The slope adjustment estimated by these interaction terms flipped the direction of the slope for satisfaction with life (i.e., −0.12 [main effect for time] + 0.29 [slope adjustment]) = 0.17), virtually eliminated the slope for self‐concept (i.e., −0.28 [main effect of time] + 0.29 [slope adjustment]), and revealed a negative slope for worries (i.e., −0.02 [main effect of time] –0.43 [slope adjustment]) indicating that in contrast to non‐immigrants, first‐generation refugee adolescents reported sustained or improved emotional health from Grades 4 to 7. Second‐generation refugee status interacted with time in a similar way only in the model predicting worries (b = −0.33 [95% CI: −0.61, −0.05]) indicating an improvement from Grades 4 to 7. Interaction effects for other immigration group categories were not statistically significant, indicating that change in emotional health was not significantly different for these groups compared to non‐immigrants. Main effects indicated initial mean differences in emotional health by immigration group in Grade 4, even after adjusting for gender, low family income, and English first language (Table 2).

Table 2.

Adjusted multi‐level growth models showing associations between immigrant group and changes in emotional health from Grades 4–7 (Model 1), and changes in peer belonging, school climate, and emotional health from Grades 4–7 (Model 2).

Model 1 Model 2
b 95% CI p b 95% CI p
Satisfaction with life
Time −0.12 −0.18 −0.06 <.0001 −0.04 −0.09 0.01 .13
1st generation immigrant −0.10 −0.18 −0.01 .02 −0.07 −0.14 0.01 .07
1st generation refugee −0.08 −0.30 0.13 .45 −0.02 −0.21 0.16 .82
2nd generation immigrant −0.06 −0.13 0.02 .13 −0.03 −0.09 0.03 .36
2nd generation refugee 0.05 −0.09 0.20 .46 0.08 −0.05 0.20 .23
Time × 1st generation immigrant 0.02 −0.09 0.13 .68 −0.02 −0.11 0.08 .75
Time × 1st generation refugee 0.29 0.01 0.56 .04 0.14 −0.10 0.39 .25
Time × 2nd generation immigrant −0.06 −0.15 0.04 .22 −0.10 −0.18 −0.02 .02
Time × 2nd generation refugee 0.00 −0.19 0.18 .98 −0.09 −0.25 0.08 .30
Peer belonging 0.34 0.32 0.36 <.0001
School climate 0.24 0.22 0.26 <.0001
Self‐concept
Time −0.28 −0.33 −0.23 <.0001 −0.22 −0.26 −0.17 <.0001
1st generation immigrant −0.07 −0.14 0.01 .07 −0.04 −0.10 0.02 .22
1st generation refugee −0.02 −0.21 0.16 .79 0.02 −0.14 0.18 .76
2nd generation immigrant −0.03 −0.10 0.03 .32 −0.01 −0.07 0.05 .71
2nd generation refugee −0.04 −0.15 0.08 .55 −0.01 −0.12 0.09 .80
Time × 1st generation immigrant 0.06 −0.03 0.15 .21 0.03 −0.05 0.11 .52
Time × 1st generation refugee 0.29 0.04 0.53 .02 0.17 −0.05 0.39 .13
Time × 2nd generation immigrant −0.05 −0.14 0.03 .20 −0.09 −0.16 −0.01 .02
Time × 2nd generation refugee 0.09 −0.07 0.25 .27 0.02 −0.12 0.16 .80
Peer belonging 0.31 0.29 0.32 <.0001
School climate 0.17 0.16 0.19 <.0001
Optimism
Time −0.22 −0.28 −0.16 <.0001 −0.14 −0.20 −0.09 <.0001
1st generation immigrant −0.01 −0.10 0.07 .74 0.02 −0.06 0.09 .63
1st generation refugee 0.15 −0.07 0.36 .18 0.21 0.02 0.40 .03
2nd generation immigrant −0.01 −0.08 0.07 .88 0.02 −0.04 0.08 .54
2nd generation refugee −0.02 −0.16 0.13 .83 0.01 −0.12 0.13 .93
Time × 1st generation immigrant 0.00 −0.11 0.11 .97 −0.03 −0.13 0.06 .47
Time × 1st generation refugee 0.13 −0.15 0.41 .36 −0.01 −0.26 0.24 .94
Time × 2nd generation immigrant −0.08 −0.17 0.02 .11 −0.12 −0.20 −0.03 .01
Time × 2nd generation refugee 0.11 −0.08 0.30 .25 0.03 −0.14 0.20 .72
Peer belonging 0.33 0.31 0.35 <.0001
School climate 0.22 0.20 0.24 <.0001
Sadness
Time 0.18 0.10 0.25 <.0001 0.12 0.05 0.20 .00
1st generation immigrant 0.02 −0.08 0.12 .70 −0.01 −0.10 0.09 .87
1st generation refugee 0.10 −0.17 0.36 .48 0.05 −0.19 0.29 .70
2nd generation immigrant 0.03 −0.06 0.12 .47 0.01 −0.07 0.09 .85
2nd generation refugee 0.19 0.02 0.36 .03 0.17 0.02 0.33 .03
Time × 1st generation immigrant −0.03 −0.16 0.11 .68 0.00 −0.12 0.12 .99
Time × 1st generation refugee −0.27 −0.61 0.06 .11 −0.16 −0.47 0.16 .33
Time × 2nd generation immigrant −0.01 −0.13 0.11 .87 0.02 −0.09 0.13 .68
Time × 2nd generation refugee −0.18 −0.40 0.04 .12 −0.11 −0.32 0.10 .30
Peer belonging −0.35 −0.38 −0.33 <.0001
School climate −0.15 −0.17 −0.12 <.0001
Worries
Time −0.02 −0.12 0.07 .62 −0.06 −0.15 0.03 .18
1st generation immigrant 0.17 0.05 0.30 .01 0.15 0.03 0.27 .02
1st generation refugee 0.36 0.04 0.68 .03 0.31 0.00 0.62 .05
2nd generation immigrant 0.08 −0.03 0.19 .15 0.06 −0.05 0.16 .30
2nd generation refugee 0.26 0.05 0.47 .01 0.24 0.04 0.45 .02
Time × 1st generation immigrant −0.09 −0.25 0.08 .30 −0.06 −0.22 0.09 .44
Time × 1st generation refugee −0.43 −0.85 −0.01 .05 −0.32 −0.72 0.09 .13
Time × 2nd generation immigrant 0.00 −0.14 0.15 .97 0.03 −0.11 0.17 .65
Time × 2nd generation refugee −0.33 −0.61 −0.05 .02 −0.27 −0.54 0.00 .05
Peer belonging −0.34 −0.38 −0.31 <.0001
School climate −0.08 −0.11 −0.05 <.0001
Open in a new tab

Note: Observations are nested within individuals and individuals are nested within schools in MLM growth models. Reference group for immigration background = non‐immigrant. All models are adjusted for gender, the interaction between gender and time, low family income, and English first language. Bolded estimates are significant at α = .05.

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; MLM, multilevel modeling.

In Model 2, we found that changes in peer belonging and school climate from Grades 4 to 7 were positively associated with changes in satisfaction with life (b's = 0.34 [95% CI: 0.32, 0.36] and 0.24 [95% CI: 0.22, 0.26]), self‐concept (b's = 0.31 [95% CI: 0.29, 0.32] and 0.17 [95% CI: 0.16, 0.19]), and optimism (b's = 0.33 [95% CI: 0.31, 0.35] and 0.22 [95% CI: 0.20, 0.24]) and negatively associated with changes in sadness (b's = −0.35 [95% CI: −0.38, −0.33] and −0.15 [95% CI: −0.17, −0.12]) and worries (b's = −0.34 [95% CI: −0.38, −0.31] and −0.08 [95% CI: −0.11, −0.05]). Adjusting for peer belonging and school climate reduced the magnitude of coefficients for the interactions between time and refugee status in predicting emotional health variables and made the interaction terms no longer statistically significant. This indicates that peer belonging and school climate in Grades 4 and 7 partially accounted for the observed differences in how emotional health changed between Grades 4 and 7 for refugee adolescents compared to non‐immigrant adolescents.

In follow‐up analyses (results not shown), we found that the effects of peer belonging and school climate on emotional health generally did not differ by immigration group. Three exceptions were significant interactions between school climate and first‐generation immigrant status in predicting sadness (b = 0.10 [95% CI: 0.03, 0.17]), between peer belonging and first‐generation immigrant status predicting worries (b = 0.17 [95% CI: 0.08, 0.26]) and between peer belonging and second‐generation immigrant status in predicting worries (b = 0.11 [95% CI: 0.02, 0.19]). These interaction effects indicated that the protective/promotive effects of social support variables on sadness and worries were less strong for first‐ and second‐generation immigrants compared to non‐immigrants.

6.5. Sensitivity analyses

Results indicated that findings were not sensitive to adjusting for adolescents’ self‐reported English reading ability in Grades 4 and 7 and neighborhood immigrant density. In addition, we found that age at arrival in Canada did not moderate the effect of time on emotional health among immigrant and refugee adolescents.

7. DISCUSSION

In this 3‐year follow‐up study, we examined the social and emotional experiences of adolescents with varied immigration backgrounds attending school in BC, Canada. Addressing our first objective, we found that changes in emotional health between middle childhood and early adolescence differed depending on adolescents’ immigration histories. Among non‐immigrant adolescents, self‐reported satisfaction with life and self‐concept decreased from Grades 4 to 7, and sadness increased. In comparison, first‐generation refugee adolescents reported significantly more positive changes in emotional health over the 3 years, including increases in life satisfaction, no decline in self‐concept, and decreases in worries. Second‐generation refugee adolescents also reported decreases in worries from Grades 4 to 7 compared to non‐immigrant adolescents. This pattern of improved emotional health in the initial period following immigration is consistent with longitudinal research from Norway and the United States identifying improvements in adolescents’ psychological adjustment with more time spent in the receiving country (Keles et al., 2018; Sirin, Gupta, et al., 2013). However, these previous studies also emphasized that improvements in adjustment were associated with differences in acculturative stress and social support, highlighting the importance of contextualizing the present results and cautioning against generalizing these findings for all refugee adolescents across all receiving countries. For example, adolescents who are visible minorities in their receiving country or who face social and structural barriers due to language or cultural barriers may not experience the same level of acceptance and adjustment over time as the refugee adolescents in the current sample.

At the time of data collection, Canada had one of the highest per capita immigration rates in the world (Challinor, 2011). The majority of immigrant and refugee families were immigrating from Asian countries, including China and India (Challinor, 2011), which was reflected in our sample of adolescents attending school in BC. Consistent with the risk and resilience model for immigrant children and youth (Suárez‐Orozco et al., 2018), it might be that high density of families with immigration backgrounds and similar ethnic and cultural backgrounds promoted a sense of belonging that contributed to the improved emotional health of refugee adolescents new to Canada. For example, other research in BC has suggested that higher neighborhood immigration density may be protective for immigrant and non‐immigrant adolescents’ mental health (Emerson et al., 2023). However, we did not find similar patterns of improved emotional health among immigrants arriving to Canada under economic or family reunification circumstances, leaving further questions to be explored regarding different experiences between immigration groups. Qualitative and mixed methods research may be particularly informative to identify these differences, as well as research that examines subgroup differences by gender, recency of immigration, ethnic origin, neighborhood immigration density, and the socio‐political context of receiving country.

Another possible explanation for the greater improvements in emotional health among refugee adolescents specifically is that this group started with worse emotional health and had more room to improve. The study design also selected for adolescents who had stayed in the province for all 3 years, which may have excluded participants with more transitory experiences settling in the new country and worsened mental health (Sirin, Ryce, et al., 2013). In contrast, second generation refugees did not report the same improvements in life satisfaction and self‐concept as their first‐generation peers. This may reflect differences in experiences of first and second‐generation refugees, including potential immediate improvements in safety and services upon resettling in Canada for first‐generation refugees, versus potential separation from culture, increased socioeconomic challenges, and perceived discrimination affecting second‐generation refugees. This regression to the mean of second‐generation immigrants and refugees in this sample supports the suggestion of the “healthy immigrant effect” whereby short‐term advantages in health among immigrant populations decline to the average of the receiving country population over time (Vang et al., 2017).

Addressing our second objective, peer belonging and a supportive school climate were associated with improvements across all five emotional health outcomes from middle childhood to adolescence. Being accepted by one's peers is a developmental task of all adolescents regardless of immigration background (Motti‐Stefanidi & Masten, 2017). However, for immigrant‐origin and refugee adolescents, peer acceptance also becomes an acculturation task (Motti‐Stefanidi & Masten, 2017). In the prior cross‐sectional research that informed this study, refugee children in Grade 4 who reported greater peer belonging and supportive school climates also reported better emotional health (Emerson et al., 2022). The current study adds that perceived social support not only increased for refugee adolescents over the subsequent 3 years, but that improvements in social supports were associated with improvements in emotional health.

The consistent positive association between peer belonging, school climate, and emotional health for all adolescents emphasizes the importance of social connections and belonging during this developmental period as adolescents navigate social and physical changes as well as academic expectations (Eccles & Roeser, 2013; Eccles, 2004). For immigrant‐origin adolescents and refugees who navigate these challenges in more than one culture, results from this study indicate that changes in peer belonging and school climate were important to emotional health, but were not any more likely to explain changes in emotional health than for non‐immigrant adolescents. In fact, contrary to our hypothesis, the protective/promotive effects of school climate and peer belonging on sadness and worries were attenuated among first and second‐generation immigrant adolescents compared to their non‐immigrant peers. Future research is needed to unpack this finding and identify variations in context that might account for promotive/protective effects being more or less likely under different circumstances.

7.1. Implications

Bronfenbrenner's ecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 2006) posits that multiple social contexts influence human development including, most proximally, interactions with family and primary caregivers. This study intentionally focused on sources of support that could be promoted at a school level, to inform school policies and programming. However, it will be critical for future research to investigate associations between emotional health and school‐based social support in the context of perceived family support, particularly given the stress that can arise in immigrant households with adolescents living in different worlds between their peers and their parents.

Importantly for school planning and programming, this study identified that early adolescents with immigration and refugee backgrounds entered school with lower emotional health than their peers including lower life satisfaction and higher worries. Peer belonging and a supportive school climate were factors associated with improvements emotional health through this transition to early adolescence, suggesting a protective role among adolescents experiencing adversity, and a promotive role for all children. For immigrant‐origin early adolescents, culturally responsive interventions to promote emotional health can include promoting a supportive and inclusive environment with teachers, staff, and peers and implementing social‐emotional learning initiatives that promote adolescents’ strengths including self‐efficacy, cultural pride, language proficiency, and family cohesion (d'Abreu et al., 2019). School‐wide interventions are also recommended, teaching empathy, acceptance, and understanding of the immigration experience to all students (d'Abreu et al., 2019). Importantly, interventions should be evaluated regularly to monitor their acceptability and effectiveness.

7.2. Strengths and limitations

This study used data from a large population‐level linked dataset that followed a cohort of early adolescents transitioning to life in Canada over a 3‐year period. Measuring changes in the social and emotional lives of immigrant and refugee adolescents is critical for evaluating how well our systems are supporting adolescents through these transitions, beyond initial differences in emotional health when they arrive or at discrete points in time. Drawing on adolescents’ self‐reported data provided insights into the psychological and social worlds of young people when they are typically experiencing a decline in well‐being (Schonert‐Reichl, 2011; Shoshani & Slone, 2013). Validated self‐report measures can be useful for monitoring subclinical thresholds of emotional health problems that may not be easily observed or detected, but nonetheless indicate areas for concern (Fosse & Haas, 2009; McGorry et al., 2014; Patalay et al., 2014). Within this study, the large sample size furthermore enabled us to examine changes in well‐being within low prevalence population sub‐groups including refugee adolescents.

This study had a high initial participation rate of approximately 80% of the Grade 4 student population in participating school districts. However, the linked Grades 4–7 sample had less representation from immigrant and refugee adolescents from lower income families which may have affected the associations found in this study. Furthermore, the study design necessitating participants to reside in BC for at least 3 years may have selected a sample of refugee and immigrant adolescents who had more resources promoting their emotional health than those who did not stay in the sample, potentially exaggerating the improvement of this group over time. Underrepresentation of refugee and immigrant adolescents with fewer protective resources may have also potentially attenuated the differences in emotional health between immigration groups. We note that our sample of refugee adolescents in particular was small, limiting analytic power to detect group differences. This sample also did not include adolescents attending independent schools or religious schools which may have resulted in missed students with different experiences based on immigration background and socio‐political context.

In regards to generalizability, BC is a province with a high proportion of immigrant‐origin adolescents, which may indicate that adolescents’ experiences in this province are not representative of adolescents in other regions or contexts. We also could not control for other potential confounders that might have affected the associations between social support and emotional health. For example, we did not have measures of pre‐existing mental health which could have influenced adolescents’ self‐reported emotional health as well as their perceived social relationships. Furthermore, our broad immigration categories assumed homogeneity within groups, when it is known that the experiences of individuals in these categories differ substantially depending on numerous contextual factors (Motti‐Stefanidi & Masten, 2017; Suárez‐Orozco et al., 2018). The results in this study present differences for immigration groups as a whole, controlling for gender, language barriers, family income, and country of origin. Future subgroup analyses could examine differences in emotional health based on these factors, as well as presently unmeasured variables including religious discrimination, trauma, disability, and parent mental health. Future research could also examine associations among more specific immigrant population groups, for example, based on immigration recency, or intersections between immigration background and other social factors including poverty, language, visible minority, and immigration density of one's school or neighborhood. Person‐centered modeling approaches that examine heterogeneity within population groups based on shared characteristics or circumstances might be particularly useful for identifying factors associated with risk and resilience among immigrant‐origin adolescents.

7.3. Conclusions

Young people who arrive in a new country can face several pre‐ and post‐migration challenges that can be associated with their emotional health. Measuring potential inequities in the emotional health of adolescents who have immigrated, from the perspectives of adolescents themselves, is a critical part of understanding and addressing these disparities. In this study we found that immigrant and refugee adolescents reported lower emotional health than their peers in Grade 4. However, contrary to typical declines in emotional health during this developmental period (Schonert‐Reichl, 2011; Shoshani & Slone, 2013), first‐generation refugees in this study reported improvements in life satisfaction Grades 4–7, and first‐ and second‐generation refugees reported improvements in worries. Perceived improvements in peer belonging and a supportive school climate were associated with improvements in emotional health for all adolescents. Contrary to expectations, we did not find differences in the associations between improvements in emotional health and improvements in social support by immigration group, which indicates that social support may universally benefit adolescents regardless of immigration background. These results highlight social support as a modifiable factor within schools that can promote young people's emotional health. Effective interventions to promote emotional health and adjustment among immigrant‐origin adolescents are those that are context‐specific and culturally responsive, focusing on promoting protective factors rather than targeting risk (d'Abreu et al., 2019; Mohamed & Thomas, 2017; Motti‐Stefanidi & Masten, 2017; Suárez‐Orozco et al., 2018). We suggest that new environments for immigrant and refugee children and adolescents can be optimized by creating culturally responsive opportunities for connections with peers within schools and communities.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

ETHICS STATEMENT

Ethics approval and data linkage was obtained from the University of British Columbia Research Ethics Board.

Supporting information

Supporting information.

JAD-96-1901-s001.pdf (138.8KB, pdf)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research/Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences Research Trainee award (RT‐2020‐0550) awarded to KCT.

Thomson, K. , Magee, C. , Gagné Petteni, M. , Oberle, E. , Georgiades, K. , Schonert‐Reichl, K. , Janus, M. , Guhn, M. , & Gadermann, A. (2024). Changes in peer belonging, school climate, and the emotional health of immigrant, refugee, and non‐immigrant early adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 96, 1901–1916. 10.1002/jad.12390

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions. Access to data provided by the Data Stewards is subject to approval, but can be requested for research projects through the Data Stewards or their designated service providers. More information can be found at https://www.popdata.bc.ca/data.

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Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

Supporting information.

JAD-96-1901-s001.pdf (138.8KB, pdf)

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions. Access to data provided by the Data Stewards is subject to approval, but can be requested for research projects through the Data Stewards or their designated service providers. More information can be found at https://www.popdata.bc.ca/data.

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