Psychological and social adjustment in refugee adolescents: The role of parents' and adolescents' friendships. Issue 176 (5th March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Karataş, Savaş; Crocetti, Elisabetta; Schwartz, Seth J.; Rubini, Monica
• Editors: Crocetti, Elisabetta; Eckstein, Katharina
• Is Part Of: New directions for child and adolescent development. Issue 176(2021)
• Page Start: 123
• Page End: 139
• Publication Date: 2021-03-05
• Subjects: cross‐ethnic friendships -- migration -- parents -- refugees -- same‐ethnic friendships; Child psychology -- Periodicals; Child development -- Periodicals; Youth -- Psychology -- Periodicals; 305.231
• DOI: 10.1002/cad.20395
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1520-3247

Abstract

Abstract: Friendships have important implications for adolescents' psychological and social adjustment. However, there is still limited evidence on how different same‐ethnic and cross‐ethnic friendships are formed and regarding their role in refugee adjustment. Therefore, the present study was designed to examine the interplay of parents' and adolescents' same‐ethnic and cross‐ethnic friendships with adolescents' own psychological and social adjustment among refugee adolescents. Participants were 208 Syrian refugees (71.2% female; M age = 15.35, SD age = 0.95) in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Findings indicated that refugee parents' same‐ethnic and cross‐ethnic friendships were positively related to their children's same‐ethnic and cross‐ethnic friendships. Moreover, parents' same‐ethnic friendships were negatively linked with adolescents' social well‐being, whereas parents' cross‐ethnic friendships were positively related to adolescents' social well‐being. Furthermore, adolescents' same‐ethnic and cross‐ethnic friendships were both positively related to adolescents' social well‐being, and cross‐ethnic friendships were also positively associated with psychological well‐being. These findings suggest that adolescents' cross‐ethnic friendships mediated the positive associations of parents' cross‐ethnic friendships with adolescents' social and psychological well‐being. Overall, our study provides novel insights into the protective roles of diverse friendships for refugee adolescents.