A sense of belonging is crucial for mental health and well-being, but immigrants may find achieving a sense of belonging elusive. This study examined the relationship between sense of belonging and mental health among Finnish native, and first- and second-generation immigrant adolescents (N = 61 540) in Finland. Moreover, we estimated whether sense of belonging buffered the negative effect of experienced discrimination on mental health.

Springer Link

We developed a six-item Compact Acculturation Scale (CAS) based on common items on comprehensive acculturation scales and examined it with two designs using data from the Finnish Annual Youth Future Report Survey of 2023 (N = 744 immigrant-origin youth, IOY). This study shows that CAS is a reliable and robust instrument that can serve us in investigating acculturation both by variable- and person-oriented approaches.

Wiley Online Library

Teachers’ support and positive teacher–student bonds are key factors in promoting a sense of school belonging (SB) among adolescents. Previous research shows that immigrant-origin adolescents (IOA’s) report lower SB than their non-immigrant peers do. This study examines if positive teacher–student bonds are equally beneficial for the SB of immigrant-origin and non-immigrant adolescents. Using PISA 2022 data, the moderating role of immigrant status in this relationship was assessed in European countries by multi-level models (NStudents = 151,211, NSchools = 21,629, NCountries = 19). Country-level analyses revealed that IOA’s benefited less from positive teacher–student relations in 6 out of 19 countries. In Sweden, Belgium, and Portugal this moderation effect was conditional on the moderating role of school diversity promotion.