Three out of ten children in Germany have immigrant backgrounds and this proportion is expected to further increase in subsequent years. While immigrant youth have been found more vulnerable to developing symptoms of depression and anxiety, the underlying mechanisms of how such disparities unfold during youth development are still understudied. Some previous research has found that immigrant youth are at risk of experiencing a less positive self-concept compared to non-immigrant youth. We investigated whether the self-concept mediates mental health disparities and explored variability in such associations from middle childhood to late adolescence. Overall 1839 children and adolescents aged 6–21 years (M = 14.05 years, SD = 3.03, 49.8% female, n = 782 with immigrant status) participated in a cross-sectional self-report survey in classroom settings using scales from the Beck Youth Inventories II (Beck et al. in Beck Youth Inventories - Second Edition, Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, 2005) to assess self-concept and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Links between immigrant status, age, self-concept and symptom levels of depression as well as anxiety were examined using hierarchical regression and moderated mediation models. Immigrant youth reported higher symptom levels of depression and anxiety than their non-immigrant peers but did not differ in their self-concepts. Hypothesized moderated mediation models were not fully supported and self-concept neither mediated the link between immigrant status and depression nor immigrant status and anxiety. However, self-concept was a significant predictor for symptom levels of depression as well as anxiety, with stronger associations in adolescents. Our study substantiates previous findings that immigrant youth in Germany have overall increased symptom levels of depression and anxiety compared to non-immigrant youth. Our study however does not support that immigrant youth have a more negative self-concept and that the self-concept mediates such internalizing mental health disparities. Findings match previous evidence that developing a positive attitude towards the self is linked to better mental health. Beyond that, our findings suggest that mental health interventions addressing the self-concept could be especially relevant when targeting adolescents. Further research is needed to deepen the understanding of the mediating processes between migration status and mental health variables.

中文翻译：

---

较低的自我观念是否会导致从童年中期到青春期后期的各种移民青年的心理健康差异？

在德国，十分之三的儿童具有移民背景，预计这一比例将在随后几年进一步增加。虽然已经发现移民青年更容易出现抑郁和焦虑症状，但仍未充分研究这种差异在青年发展过程中如何显现的潜在机制。先前的一些研究发现，与非移民青年相比，移民青年面临的积极性较低。我们调查了自我概念是否介导了心理健康差异，并探讨了从童年中期到青春期晚期的这种关联的变异性。总共1839名6-21岁的儿童和青少年（M = 14.05岁，SD = 3.03，女性49.8％，n = 782（具有移民身份）参加了在教室环境中进行的横断面自我报告调查，使用的是贝克青年清单II（贝克等人，贝克青年清单-第二版，心理学公司，圣安东尼奥，2005年）至2005年的量表。评估自我概念以及抑郁和焦虑症状。移民状况，年龄，自我概念和抑郁症状水平以及焦虑与焦虑之间的联系使用分层回归和中度调解模型进行了研究。移民青年的抑郁和焦虑症状水平高于非移民青年，但他们的自我概念没有差异。假设的适度调解模型未得到完全支持，自我概念也未介导移民身份与抑郁之间的联系，也未介导移民身份与焦虑之间的联系。然而，自我概念是抑郁和焦虑症状水平的重要预测指标，在青少年中的关联性更强。我们的研究证实了先前的发现，即与非移民青年相比，德国移民青年总体上具有抑郁和焦虑症状的增加。然而，我们的研究不支持移民青年的自我观念更为消极，并且自我观念调解了这种内在的心理健康差异。研究结果与先前的证据相吻合，即对自我发展出积极的态度与更好的心理健康有关。除此之外，我们的研究结果表明，针对青少年的心理健康干预措施在针对青少年时可能尤为重要。