Acculturative Stress Among Immigrant Mothers and Children’s Well-Being in South Korea: The Gendered Moderating Role of School Social Relationships

Abstract

The existing literature has documented the adverse effects of acculturative stress on immigrants’ mental health. However, it is still unclear whether these effects extend to their children and whether the quality of school-based social support moderates these potential spillover effects. Using data from the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study, a nationally representative longitudinal survey of adolescents with multicultural backgrounds and their mothers in South Korea, this study examined the relationship between immigrant mothers’ acculturative stress and adolescents’ subjective well-being in South Korea. Fixed effects were estimated to account for unobserved time-invariant confounders. The results of this study showed that immigrant mothers’ acculturative stress was associated with increased depressive symptoms (b = 0.070) and decreased life satisfaction (b = -0.053) in their children. Teacher support moderated these associations (b = -0.050 for depressive symptoms and b = 0.057 for life satisfaction), while peer support did not have a significant moderating effect. Three-way interaction models indicated that teacher support significantly buffered the association between maternal acculturative stress and children’s life satisfaction only for girls. This study underscores the significance of policies targeting the mitigation of acculturation-related challenges faced by immigrant mothers. Practitioners and policymakers may wish to encourage teachers to promote positive relationships with students from multicultural families. Maternal acculturative stress was associated with children’s subjective well-being. The moderating roles of teacher relationships were only significant for girls. Acculturation-related challenges faced by immigrant mothers should be addressed. Teachers may wish to foster positive relationships with multicultural students.