Abstract
Background
The existing literature suggests that positive parenting might serve as a protective factor against immigrant adolescents’ engagement in externalizing difficulties when they are exposed to negative experiences of ethnic derogation. To date, little is known, however, about whether different dimensions of positive parenting may moderate the detrimental impact of ethnic harassment at school on immigrant youth’s antisocial behavior.
Objective
This study aimed to investigate which specific dimensions of positive parenting may act as a buffer against the detrimental impact of ethnic harassment at school on immigrant adolescents’ antisocial behavior (i.e., delinquency and violence).
Method
Using longitudinal data, we followed first- and second-generation immigrant adolescents (N = 365; Mage = 13.93, SD = .80; 46% girls; 37% first-generation) in Sweden over a period of one year. Data collection at Time 1 (T1) was completed in the spring semester of the school year, and Time 2 (T2) assessments took place a year after the first data collection. We ran a series of regressions analyses via the SPSS PROCESS macro for each dimension of positive parenting behavior and each type of antisocial behavior.
Results
We found that ethnically harassed immigrant adolescents who received parental warmth, perceived their influence on family decisions and whose parents were aware of their children’s daily activities were less likely to engage in delinquency and violence one year later. In addition, we saw that immigrant youth whose parents actively sought information about their offsprings’ lives were less prone to display violence in the face of ethnic harassment.
Conclusions
The results suggest that parents are important in overriding the noxious effects of negative peer interactions targeting their children’s ethnic background, even during an adolescence marked by significant changes in child–parent and child–peer relationships. These findings might inform the development of intervention components for testing in interventions studies aimed at preventing immigrant youths’ antisocial behavior and future involvement in violent criminal offences.
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Data Availability
The data generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available.
Code Availability
Not applicable.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the grant from the Beatriu de Pinós Programme, funded by the Direcció General de Recerca de la Generalitat de Catalunya (General Directorate for Research in the Government of Catalonia) and co-funded by the European Union through the COFUND programme (Contract Number 801370) for Marie-Skłodowska-Curie actions in the “Horizon 2020” programme. This study was made possible by access to data from the longitudinal research programme Seven School Study funded by Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE). Responsible for the planning, implementation, and financing of the collection of data were Professors Margaret Kerr and Håkan Stattin.
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Korol, L., Bevelander, P. Ethnic Harassment and the Protective Effect of Positive Parenting on Immigrant Youths’ Antisocial Behavior. Child Youth Care Forum 50, 805–826 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-021-09600-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-021-09600-w