XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY, 2011, ??(?): 1–12

Psychological adaptation of Moroccan andEcuadorean immigrant adolescents in Spain

Elena Briones1, Maykel Verkuyten1, Juan Cosano1, and Carmen Tabernero2

1European Research Center on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER)5 Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

2Department of Psychology, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain

I n adapting to the host society, immigrant adolescents may have problems negotiating the challenges of

acculturation. The factors that promote and those that hamper psychological adaptation may not play thesame role in all ethnic groups. Our study focuses on psychological adaptation of two main immigrant groups in

10 Spain that differ in cultural distance to the host society and level of societal acceptance: adolescents of Moroccan

and Ecuadorean origin. Our findings show, first, that mainstream cultural orientation is positively related topsychological adaptation, whereas perceived ethnic discrimination is negatively associated with adaptation.Second, the relationship between ethnic cultural orientation and psychological adaptation and between length

of residence in Spain and adaptation is stronger for the Moroccan youth than for their Ecuadorean peers.

15 Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. En s’adaptant a la societe d’accueil, lesadolescents immigrants peuvent eprouver des difficultes a faire face aux defis de l’acculturation. Les facteurs qui

favorisent et ceux qui entravent l’adaptation psychologique peuvent ne pas jouer le meme role dans tous lesgroupes ethniques. Notre etude focalise sur l’adaptation psychologique chez deux principaux groupesd’immigrants en Espagne, lesquels different quant a leur difference culturelle avec la societe d’accueil et leur

20 niveau d’acceptation societale : les adolescents originaires du Maroc et ceux de l’Equateur. Nos resultats

montrent, premierement, que l’orientation culturelle dominante est positivement reliee a l’adaptationpsychologique, tandis que la discrimination ethnique percue est negativement associee a l’adaptation.Deuxiemement, la relation entre l’orientation culturelle ethnique et l’adaptation psychologique et la relation

entre la duree de residence en Espagne et l’adaptation sont plus fortes pour les jeunes Marocains

25 comparativement a leurs pairs Equatoriens. Les implications theoriques et pratiques de ces resultats sontdiscutees.

Keywords: Acculturation orientations; Ethnic minorities; Length of residence in the receiving country; Perceivedethnic discrimination; Psychological adaptation.

E n la adaptacion a la sociedad de acogida los inmigrantes adolescentes pueden tener problemas negociando

30 los desafıos de la aculturacion. Los factores que promueven y dificultan la adaptacion psicologica no jueganel mismo papel en todos los grupos etnicos. Nuestro estudio se centra en la adaptacion psicologica de los dos

grupos principales de inmigrantes en Espana que se diferencian tanto en la distancia cultural respecto de lasociedad de acogida como en el nivel de aceptacion de la sociedad: los adolescentes de origen marroquı yecuatoriano. Nuestros resultados muestran, en primer lugar, que la orientacion cultural principal se relaciona

35 positivamente con la adaptacion psicologica, mientras que la discriminacion etnica percibida se asocianegativamente con la adaptacion. En segundo lugar, la relacion entre la orientacion etnica cultural y laadaptacion psicologica y entre el tiempo de residencia en Espana y la adaptacion es mas fuerte para los jovenes de

Correspondence should be addressed to Elena Briones, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University,

Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands. (E-mail: ed1brpee@uco.es).

This manuscript was prepared and written while the first author was affiliated to the University of Cordoba in Spain andfinancially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation within the framework of a National Program ofHuman Recourses’ Mobility (IþDþI 2008–2011). Data collection was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry ofScience and Technology (IþD BSO2003-09222).

� 2011 International Union of Psychological Science

http://www.psypress.com/ijp DOI: 10.1080/00207594.2011.569722

XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

origen marroquı que para sus pares ecuatorianos. Se discuten las implicaciones teoricas y practicas de estosresultados.

40

Many immigrant adolescents adapt well to theirnew society, but others have problems negotiatingthe challenges of the acculturation experience

45 (Sam, 2000). An important topic for research isto understand the factors that promote or hinderthe psychological adaptation of immigrant youth.The role of these factors may differ for groups ofimmigrants because the challenges faced can

50 depend on ethnic background. According toBerry (1997), the type of acculturating group isimportant for psychological adaptation because ofthe cultural characteristics of the groups and thefact that not all groups are equally accepted by

55 the host society. Examining the role of ethnicityin the adaptation of immigrant youth is oftenrecommended in acculturation research, but is stillquite rare. Group differences are examined interms of the cultural distance between the country

60 of origin and the host society (e.g., Furnham &Bochner, 1982), the degree to which one’s immi-grant group is (de)valued in the receiving society(e.g., Barrete, Bourhis, Personnaz, & Personnaz,2004; Portes & Rumbaut, 2006), and the relative

65 size of the immigrant group in the new setting(e.g., Greene, Way, & Pahl, 2006).To study the role of ethnicity in the psycholo-

gical adaptation of immigrant adolescents, wefocus on Ecuadorean and Moroccan adolescents

70 living in Spain. Immigration to Spain is a relativelyrecent phenomenon; the number of immigrantshas increased in the past 10 years from around500,000 people to more than 5 million accordingto the census of 2008 (11.6% of population). The

75 largest groups of immigrants are of Moroccan(16.6%) and Ecuadorean origin (11.3%), and in2007–2008, 12.7% of immigrant students insecondary education had a Moroccan backgroundand 17.2% an Ecuadorean one. The communities

80 are numerically similar and have similar reasonsfor immigration to Spain (e.g., the search for abetter job, and family reunification; INE, 2008).They differ, however, in their cultural distance tothe host society (i.e., in terms of language and

85 religious background), the degree to which theyare accepted by the host society, and in otherfactors that might affect the acculturation process.Ecuadoreans speak a Spanish dialect as their firstlanguage and they share a Catholic Christian

90 background with the host country. In contrast,Moroccans speak Semitic languages such asArab or Berber and have an Islamic background.

Thus, the cultural and linguistic distance fromSpaniards is smaller for Ecuadoreans than for

95Moroccans. Furthermore, research among nativeSpanish adults (Cea D’Ancona & Valles, 2009;Hernandez-Plaza, 2004; Navas & Cuadrado, 2001;Rojas, Garcıa, & Navas, 2003) and adolescents(Briones, Tabernero, & Arenas, 2005a, 2010)

100indicates that Moroccans are evaluated morenegatively than Ecuadoreans. In fact, Moroccansare the most devalued minority group in Spain andthey perceive the highest level of discriminationand prejudice (Cea D’Ancona & Valles, 2009; Dıez

105Nicolas, 2005; Morales, Anduiza, Rodrıguez, &San Martın, 2008). This negative evaluation andtreatment is probably related to historical conflictsbetween Spain and Morocco, and to the Madridbombings (March 11, 2004) which fueled anti-

110Muslim feelings (Cea D’Ancona & Valles, 2009).Furthermore, because Spain has cultural bondswith Latin American countries, Ecuadoreans canacquire Spanish citizenship after 2 years whereasMoroccans have to wait for 10 years (Cea

115D’Ancona & Valles, 2009).We aim to contribute to the literature on

acculturation by testing among both groups ofimmigrant adolescents the relationship betweenpsychological adaptation and the acculturation

120variables of length of residence, mainstream andethnic cultural orientation, and perceived ethnicdiscrimination.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION

Psychological adaptation has been defined in125terms of feelings of wellbeing, satisfaction and

mental health (Ward, 1996). Life satisfaction anddepressive symptoms are the most common usedindices of immigrant adolescents’ psychologicaladaptation to the host society. In addition,

130measures of cognitive and behavioral aspects ofpsychological wellbeing (Ward & Rana-Deuba,2000) may yield further understanding withpractical and theoretical implications for fosteringpositive youth development. Therefore, in the

135current study we examined host country lifesatisfaction, social self-efficacy, and perceivedsocial support as three related indicators ofpsychological adaptation.

Research has found that individuals who are140satisfied with their life are, in general, well adjusted

and mentally healthy (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, &

2 BRIONES ET AL.

XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

Griffin, 1985). In addition, host country lifesatisfaction is important for the psychologicaladaptation of immigrant adolescents because

145 everyday life in the country of settlement is acentral issue to them (Verkuyten, 2008).

Perceived social support reflects the feeling thatone is loved, valued, and accepted (Sarason,Pierce, & Sarason, 1990a, 1990b). People who

150 perceive others providing social support reporthigher self-esteem, believe that others hold asimilarly positive view of them, and have afavorable view of social relationship. Consideringthese positive associations, it is understandable

155 that perceived social support tends to be relatedto the psychological wellbeing of immigrants (e.g.,Golding & Burnam, 1990; Lasry, 1988).

Social self-efficacy, or the perception of one’sability to function effectively in various and

160 diverse situations, is especially important in cross-cultural interactions (e.g., Bandura, 2006; Briones,Tabernero, & Arenas, 2005b; Briones, Tabernero,Tramontano, Caprara, & Arenas, 2009; Tsang,2001). In these interactions, both immigrants and

165 natives face challenges because cultural ignoranceand fear of being rejected make these interactionsmore stressful (Church, 1982). Confidence in one’ssocial abilities has been found to be associatedwith psychological wellbeing among immigrant

170 adolescents (Fan & Mak, 1998; Hechanova-Alampay, Beehr, Christiansen, & Van Horn,2002).

ACCULTURATION FACTORS

Acculturation is a complex process. Among the175 variables that may influence immigrants’ psycho-

logical adaptation, the orientations towards themainstream culture and the ethnic minorityculture, as well as perceived discrimination andthe length of residence, are considered important

180 factors (Berry, Phinney, Sam, & Vedder, 2006;Ward, Okura, Kennedy, & Kojima, 1998).

Acculturation orientations

The question of the relationship between culturalorientations and psychological adaptation tends to

185 focus on the relative merits of identification withthe ethnic minority culture and the mainstreamsociety. Theoretically, it is argued that a continu-ing commitment to the ethnic community andculture is important for wellbeing because it

190 provides a sense of belonging, acceptance, andgrounding (Phinney, 1989). In addition, it isassumed that for immigrant adolescents the

orientation towards and engagement with thewider society and mainstream culture are critical

195aspects of positive youth development (Cooper,2008; for more detail see Lerner, 2005).Acculturation research has shown that the combi-nation of the two orientations (so-called ‘‘inte-gration’’) is related to immigrant youth’s positive

200psychological adaptation (e.g., Berry et al., 2006;Sam, 2000). It is important, however, to examinethe effects of the two orientations separatelywithout combining them into different modes ofacculturation (Rudmin, 2003). Ethnic cultural

205orientation and mainstream orientation can beindependently and positively related to psycholo-gical adaptation. We will investigate whether bothcultural orientations are indeed important for thepsychological adaptation of Moroccan and

210Ecuadorean adolescents.

Perceived ethnic discrimination

The experience of ethnic discrimination is con-sidered an ecological circumstance that differenti-ates the development of immigrant youth from

215their native-born peers (Garcıa Coll et al., 1996),with negative consequences for their psychologicaladaptation (e.g., Berry et al., 2006; Berry &Sabatier, 2010; Greene et al., 2006; Jasinskaja-Lahti, Liebkind, Jaakkola, & Reuter, 2006;

220Liebkind & Jasinskaja-Lahti, 2000; Vedder, Vande Vijver, & Liebkind, 2006; Verkuyten, 2008).When immigrant adolescents perceive themselvesas targets of discrimination, their feelings of self-efficacy, self-esteem, and control tend to gradually

225decrease, whereas their depressive symptomsincrease. These effects have been found acrossvarious ethnic groups (e.g., in Black, Latino andAsian American adolescents) and therefore weexpected that perceived ethnic discrimination

230would be negatively related to psychologicaladaptation.

Length of the stay in the receivingcountry

Psychological discomfort is strongest at the arrival235in the host society, when initial contact with the

new culture is made and many changes in variousspheres of life occur (Furnham & Bochner, 1982;Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). During the firstperiod, immigrants have many new and unsettling

240experiences and often few coping resources andlimited social support networks. Gradually theytend to adapt to their new situation and developimportant skills, such as the host society’s

PSYCHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION AND ETHNICITY 3

XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

language and knowledge of cultural codes, which245 tend to have a positive influence on psychological

adaptation (Ward et al., 1998). Spanish research(Maruny & Molina, 2000; Navarro & Huguet,2005, 2006) has shown that the length of residencein Spain is, for example, related to second

250 language acquisition. Immigrants staying lessthan 3 years in the country show a basic level ofSpanish language proficiency. Language ability ismore elaborate between 3 and 5 years of residence,and only after 5 years is language competence

255 achieved more fully. Research in other countrieshas also found that it typically takes immigrantchildren at least 5 years (often more) to catch uplinguistically to native speakers (e.g., Cummins,2000). We do not have longitudinal data to

260 account for changes over time and therefore weexamined differences in psychological adaptationamong adolescent immigrants with differentlengths of residence in Spain.

THE ROLE OF ETHNIC GROUP

265 The Ecuadorean and Moroccan immigrant groupsdiffer in their cultural distance from Spanishsociety and their level of social and legal accep-tance. The former group is culturally more similarto Spain and faces less discrimination compared to

270 the latter. Therefore, we expected the associationsbetween length of residence and ethnic culturalorientation with psychological adaptation to differbetween Ecuadoreans and Moroccans. For theEcuadoreans, length of residence is probably less

275 important because of their linguistic and culturalsimilarity to Spain and their higher level of socialacceptance. Upon their arrival they speak alreadythe language, are familiar with Spanish culture anddo not have to cope with strong negative stereo-

280 types. In contrast, Moroccans have to learn themainstream language, have to adapt to theSpanish culture and have to learn to cope withbeing a member of devalued minority group.Meeting these challenges requires time and there-

285 fore it can be expected that length of residenceis an important predictor of the psychologicaladaptation of Moroccan immigrant youth. Thus, itwas expected that the relationship between lengthof residence and psychological adaptation would

290 be stronger for the Moroccan than for theEcuadorean youth.In addition, members of devalued groups can

cope with identity threats by adopting group-basedstrategies involving increased orientation on their

295 own community, and culture can function as abuffer and coping resource for minority groups

(Branscombe, Schmitt, & Harvey, 1999; Chavira& Phinney, 1991). The higher discrimination andnegative stereotyping faced by Moroccan com-

300pared to Ecuadorean immigrants can make ethniccultural orientation more important for the formercompared to the latter group. Therefore, theassociation between ethnic culture orientationand psychological adaptation was expected to be

305stronger for the Moroccan than for theEcuadorean adolescents.

Ethnic group differences were not expected forthe relationships of mainstream culture orientationand perceived discrimination with psychological

310adaptation. For both ethnic groups, the orienta-tion on the host society is probably associated withhigher psychological adaptation. Participation inmainstream culture activities, associations, andinstitutions promotes feelings of acceptance, social

315responsibility, and the development of a widerange of skills and competencies, independent ofthe particular immigrant groups (Cooper, 2008).

Furthermore, although Moroccan immigrantscan be expected to perceive more ethnic discrimi-

320nation than Ecuadoreans, it is likely that amongboth groups the perception of discrimination isassociated with less psychological adaptation. Thefeeling that one is not fully accepted or is treatedunjustly typically has a negative effect on psycho-

325logical wellbeing independently of the ethnic groupone belongs to (e.g., Fisher, Wallace, & Fenton,2000; Liebkind & Jasinskaja-Lahti, 2000;Verkuyten & Thijs, 2006). In addition, low andmoderate levels of perceived discrimination are

330psychologically painful (Pascoe & Richman, 2009),and infrequent and subtle forms of discriminationimply derogation, rejection, and unfair treatmentthat tell people that they are not equal members ofsociety.

335METHOD

Participants

The sample consists of 197 adolescents ofMoroccan origin and 240 adolescents ofEcuadorean origin. The age of the participants

340ranged from 11 to 18 years, and the average agewas 14.47 (SD¼ 1.44). The sample was evenlydivided by gender, with 48.1% girls and 51.9%boys, and the two immigrant groups did not differin gender and age. The participants had been living

345in Spain for an average of 3.92 years (SD¼ 2.36).All the participants and their parents were first-generation immigrants and none of them was bornin Spain. The mean age of arrival in Spain was

4 BRIONES ET AL.

XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

10.54 years (SD¼ 2.85). The Ecuadorean adoles-350 cents had arrived in Spain at a slightly older age

(M¼ 10.79, SD¼ 2.41) compared to theMoroccans (M¼ 10.24, SD¼ 3.29), t (432)¼ 2.01,p5.05.

Procedure

355 Data were collected in secondary schools in whichthe percentage of immigrant students was around50%, of which approximately 11% were ofMoroccan origin and 10% of Ecuadorean origin.The schools are located in neighbourhoods in two

360 cities in which Spanish is the only officiallanguage, and the neighbourhoods are character-ized by relatively high concentrations ofEcuadorean and Moroccan immigrant familiesof lower socioeconomic strata.

365 Students completed an anonymous question-naire in school and the surveys were administeredin Spanish. On a five-point scale, the Ecuadoreanparticipants had higher self-reported Spanishlanguage proficiency (M¼ 4.56, SD¼ 1.56) than

370 the Moroccans (M¼ 3.71, SD¼ 0.76),t(427)¼ 12.70, p5.001). All participants in thecurrent analysis indicated that their level ofSpanish language proficiency was adequate (�3on a five-point scale). This means that of the

375 original sample (N¼ 523), 82 Moroccans and 4Ecuadoreans were not considered because ofinadequate knowledge of the Spanish language.

Measures

Psychological adaptation

380 Life satisfaction was measured using one itemfrom the scale developed by Diener et al. (1985).This item measures immigrant adolescents’ generalsatisfaction with their life in Spain. The partici-pants rated their answer on a five-point scale

385 ranging from 1 (‘‘not satisfied’’) to 5 (‘‘totallysatisfied’’). The distribution of the score wasreasonably normal for both the Moroccans(M¼ 3.41, SD¼ 1.04, skewness¼�0.11,kurtosis¼�0.68) and the Ecuadoreans

390 (M¼ 3.55, SD¼ 1.05, skewness¼�0.24,kurtosis¼�0.91). Perceived social support wasmeasured with a six-item Spanish version of thePersonal Resources Questionnaire (PRQ85;Weinert & Brandt, 1987). The PRQ considers

395 five categories of social support: provision ofattachment/intimacy; being an integral part of agroup; opportunity for nurturing behavior; reas-surance of worth; and the availability of

informational, emotional, and material help. The400measure has a seven-point ‘‘strongly agree/dis-

agree’’ format and contains statements such as‘‘I can count on my relatives and friends to helpme with problems.’’ Social self-efficacy wasmeasured with an adapted version of a scale for

405adolescents originally developed by Fan and Mak(1998). The adapted version has eight itemsrelating to perceived capacity to cope satisfactorilywith interactions in unfamiliar situations (itemexample: ‘‘I feel confident holding a conversation

410with people that I don’t know’’), at school (‘‘I feelconfident participating in class discussions’’), andin social contexts (‘‘I feel confident participating inthe local activities of this country’’). Participantsrated their level of confidence using a seven-point

415scale (‘‘strongly disagree/agree’’). Exploratoryfactor analysis on the items of the three measuresof psychological adaptation yielded a one-factorsolution (50.25% of explained variance), indicat-ing that the three measures can be used as a single

420latent index of psychological adaptation. Tofurther test the validity of this index in bothimmigrant groups, a multiple group confirmatoryfactor analysis (CFA) was performed with theitems of host satisfaction, perceived social support,

425and social self-efficacy as indicators. The resultsshow that the model fit of the equal loading model(w2/df¼ 1.54; RMSEA¼ .04; CFI¼ .94; TLI¼ .93)is adequate (Dw2¼ 38.19, Ddf¼ 12, p5.001;DCFI¼�0.01) compared to the unconstrained

430model (w2/df¼ 1.42; RMSEA¼ .03; CFI¼ .95;TLI¼ .94) (Bentler, 1995; Byrne, 1994; Cheung &Rensvold, 2002; Hu & Bentler, 1999). Thesignificance of the likelihood ration test (Dw2)depends on the sample size (see Cheung &

435Rensvold, 2002), whereas the DCFI is acceptableand independent of the size of the sample.Moreover, the overall model fit of the equalloadings model is satisfactory. Thus measureinvariance can be assumed, and we can focus on

440our main question of whether the predictedassociations are similar for the two ethnicgroups. For the Moroccan sample Cronbach’salpha was 0.86; for the Ecuadoreans it was 0.80.

Acculturation measures

445Acculturation orientations were measured usingthe Vancouver Index of Acculturation (VIA;Ryder, Alden, & Paulhus, 2000). This instrumentconsists of 10 pairs of items tapping core aspects(values, social relationships, and adherence to

450traditions) of the orientation towards the ethnicand the mainstream culture. Participants indicated

PSYCHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION AND ETHNICITY 5

XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

their level of agreement using seven-point Likertscales, where 1 indicated ‘‘strongly disagree’’ and

7 indicated ‘‘strongly agree.’’ CFA confirmed the455 bidimensional nature of this acculturation mea-

sure. A two-factor solution fitted the data and all

the item loadings had standardized coefficientshigher than .45 on their respective factor:

RMSEA¼ .05; CFI¼ .93; TLI¼ .90. We con-460 ducted a measurement invariance test to examine

whether the items of the latent variable ‘‘orien-

tation to the ethnic culture’’ and ‘‘orientation tothe mainstream culture’’ assessed the same con-

structs among the two ethnic groups. The results465 showed that the model fit of the equal loadings

model (w2/df ¼1.80; RMSEA¼ .04; CFI¼ .91;

TLI¼ .89) is acceptable (Dw2¼ 38.32, Ddf¼ 18,p5.01; DCFI¼�0.01) compared to the uncon-

strained model (w2/df¼ 1.78; RMSEA¼ .04;470 CFI¼ .92; TLI¼ .90). In addition, the overall

model fit of the equal loading model is acceptable.

Thus, the orientation towards the ethnic andthe mainstream culture were used to examine the

different associations for the two groups. The475 internal consistency of the ethnic cultural orienta-

tion was 0.89 for the Moroccan sample and 0.81

for the Ecuadoreans, and for the mainstreamcultural orientation alphas were 0.81

(Moroccans) and 0.87 (Ecuadoreans).480 Perception of ethnic discrimination was measured

with six items of the perceived discrimination

subscale of the Social, Attitudinal, Familial, and

Environmental Acculturative Stress Scale (SAFE;Mena, Padilla, & Maldonado, 1987). A sample

485 item is, ‘‘Because of my ethnic background, I feel

that others often exclude me from participating intheir activities.’’ Participants expressed how stress-

ful they found the situations that they hadexperienced on a five-point scale (endpoints: ‘‘not

490at all stressful/extremely stressful’’). Multiplegroup CFA confirmed the unidimensional natureof the perceived discrimination measure in bothsamples since the fit indexes of the equal loadingmodel were acceptable, and the fact that it

495(w2/df¼ 1.15; RMSEA¼ .02; CFI¼ .99;TLI¼ .99) was satisfactory (Dw2¼ 10.63, Ddf¼ 5,p4.06; DCFI¼�0.01) compared to the uncon-strained model (w2/df¼ 0.87; RMSEA¼ .00;CFI¼ 1.00; TLI¼ 1.01). Cronbach’s alpha was

5000.71 for the Moroccan sample and 0.79 for theEcuadorean sample.

RESULTS

Preliminary analysis

Table 1 gives the correlations between the main505variables for the two immigrant groups. As

expected, perceived discrimination was negativelyassociated with psychological adaptation whereasmainstream and ethnic cultural orientations werepositively related to psychological adaptation.

510Moreover, perceived discrimination was positivelyrelated to ethnic cultural orientation in theEcuadorean sample, and both cultural orientationswere positively correlated in the Moroccan sample.Length of residence in Spain was associated

515negatively with perceived discrimination in bothsamples and positively with psychological adapta-tion in the Moroccan sample only. Length ofresidence was not related to the two acculturationorientations.

520Table 1 also shows that compared to theMoroccans, the Ecuadorean adolescents hadbeen living a shorter time in Spain,t(434)¼�3.49, p5.01, perceived less discrimina-tion, t(395)¼�4.35, p5.001, and expressed better

TABLE 1.Pearson product–moment correlations among the variables for Moroccan (below the diagonal) and Ecuadorean (above the

diagonal) adolescents, and means and standard deviations (SD) for each ethnic group

Variable 1 2 3 4 5

1. Length of residence in Spain – �.14* �.01 .01 .16*

2. Perceived discrimination �.27* – .06 .13* �.23***

3. Mainstream cultural orientation .07 �.06 – .10 .38***

4. Ethnic cultural orientation .07 �.04 .24** – .15*

5. Psychological adaptation .31*** �.19* .41*** .44*** –

Moroccan Mean 4.36 2.12 4.92 5.93 4.76

SD 2.98 1.15 1.11 1.07 0.81

Ecuadorean Mean 3.57 1.59 4.71 5.83 4.99

SD 1.62 1.23 1.16 0.81 0.65

*p5.05; **p5.01; ***p5.001

6 BRIONES ET AL.

XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

525 psychological adaptation, t(392)¼ 2.62, p5.01.There were not significant group differences forethnic and for mainstream cultural orientations.

Regression analysis

A regression analysis was conducted to predict530 psychological wellbeing after centering the contin-

uous variables (Cohen, Cohen, West, & Aiken,2003). The main effects of gender, age of arrivaland ethnic group were the predictors in Step 1. InStep 2, the centered scores of the acculturation

535 variables, length of residence, perceived discrimi-nation, mainstream cultural orientation, andethnic cultural orientation were added to theequation. In Step 3, the four interactions betweenimmigrant group and the acculturation variables

540 were entered. The results are given in Table 2.Step 1 shows that adolescents who arrive at an

older age in Spain have lower psychologicaladaptation and that the adaptation of theMoroccan sample is significantly below that of

545 the Ecuadoreans. The variables in Step 2 explainan additional 25% of the variance in psychologicaladaptation. Length of residence has no indepen-dent effect whereas perceived discrimination hasthe expected negative effect. In addition, both

550 mainstream and ethnic cultural orientations areindependently and positively related to psycholo-gical adaptation.

The results in Step 3 indicate that the effect ofethnic cultural orientation is moderated by immi-

555 grant group. As expected, analyses for the twogroups separately showed that the effect was

stronger for the Moroccan compared to theEcuadorean adolescents (b¼ .34, p5.001, andb¼ .15, p5.05, respectively). In addition, and

560also as expected, there was a significant interactioneffect between ethnic group and length of residencein Spain. Length of residence had a positive andsignificant association with the psychosocial well-being of Moroccans (b¼ .34, p5.05) but not of

565Ecuadoreans (b¼�.01, p4.10). The full modelexplains 34% of the variance in psychologicaladaptation.

DISCUSSION

This research confirms the positive effect of both570ethnic and mainstream cultural orientations, and

the negative effect of perceived ethnic discrimina-tion on the psychological adaptation of immigrantyouth. In addition, we showed that the particularimmigrant group matters for the role that accul-

575turation conditions play in the adaptation pro-cesses. Compared to Ecuadorean peers, Moroccanadolescents need a longer time in Spain to feelbetter about themselves and about their life. Theadaptation to a new sociocultural setting seems

580more difficult for Moroccan adolescents becausethey have to learn a new language and familiarizethemselves with a rather different culture. Inaddition, Moroccans face more discriminationand have a less secure legal status. Because the

585two groups were quite similar on other character-istics (e.g., school and neighborhood context,socioeconomic background), these results suggestthat cultural distance and belonging to a relatively

TABLE 2.Hierarchical multiple regression analysis with psychological adaptation as dependent variable: Standardized regression

coefficients (b)

Predictor variable

Psychological adaptation

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

Gender (0, Boy; 1, Girl) .03 .02 .01

Age on arrival in Spain �.24*** �.07 �.05

Ethnic group (0: Ecuadorean, 1: Moroccan) �.16** �.18*** �.41***

Length of residence in Spain (53 years, 3–5 years,45 years) .14* .16*

Perceived discrimination �.19*** �.16***

Mainstream cultural orientation .34*** .34***

Ethnic cultural orientation .25*** .26***

Interaction between ethnicity and length of residence in Spain .23*

Interaction between ethnicity and perceived discrimination .07

Interaction between ethnicity and mainstream cultural orientation .01

Interaction between ethnicity and ethnic cultural orientation .11**

R2 .07 .31 .34

R2 change .07*** .24*** .03**

*p5.05; ** p5.01; *** p5.001.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION AND ETHNICITY 7

XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

devalued immigrant group makes psychological590 adaptation more difficult. Another finding in

support of this interpretation is that the associa-tion between ethnic cultural orientation andpsychological adaptation is stronger for theMoroccan than for the Ecuadorean adolescents.

595 In agreement with previous research, participationin ethnic culture practices and interest in culturalmaintenance can provide a sense of belonging,acceptance, and grounding that can function as abuffer and coping resource for those who are the

600 least familiar with the new society and experiencethe highest social rejection (Branscombe et al.,1999; Chavira & Phinney, 1991).The findings did not show that the relationship

between the orientation on the mainstream culture605 and psychological adaptation differed between the

two immigrant groups. The interest in participat-ing in the host society, having Spanish friends, andunderstanding Spanish values and practices waspositively related to psychological adaptation

610 among both Ecuadorean and Moroccan adoles-cents living in Spain. This supports the notion thatengagement in the host has a more generalbeneficial effect. It contributes to psychologicalwellbeing and positive development among immi-

615 grant adolescents of different backgrounds andorigins (Berry et al., 2006; Cooper, 2008; Sam,2000).Immigrant group did not moderate the relation-

ship between perceived discrimination and psy-620 chological adjustment, as, for example, was found

by Greene and colleagues (2006). In their study thegroup distinction was based on numerical repre-sentation and social hierarchies in the schoolcontext. They showed that peer discrimination

625 has less of a negative impact among thoseadolescents who enjoy relatively high socialstatus and/or are in the majority within a school.These circumstances protect them from the nega-tive effects of peer discrimination. In our setting,

630 Moroccan and Ecuadorean adolescents can find asimilar level of protection within their ethnic groupsince they attend schools with a comparablecoethnic representation. Furthermore, discrimina-tion implies unfair treatment and such treatment

635 tells people that they are not equal members ofsociety. This means that also low levels and subtleforms of discrimination can affect adolescent’swellbeing negatively (see Pascoe & Richman,2009).

640 Another result worth mentioning is that per-ceived discrimination was positively related toethnic cultural orientation in the Ecuadoreansample. This relationship has also been found inother studies (e.g., in Berry & Sabatier, 2010) and

645can be interpreted in two directions. One is that anemphasis on cultural maintenance that is expressedin behaviors and practices makes people morevisible and as a result they face more discrimina-tion (Kaiser & Pratt-Hyatt, 2009). The fact that

650this relationship was not found for the Moroccansmight indicate that they are already more clearlya ‘‘visible other’’ in Spanish society than theEcuadoreans who are more similar to mainstreamsociety. The Moroccans are more visible because

655they speak another language, are Muslims, andare subject of public debate. It is also possible,however, that the perception of ethnic discrimina-tion makes people turn towards their own ethnicgroup and emphasize the importance of their

660cultural origin (Cross, 1995; Phinney, 1989;Rumbaut, 2008). Discrimination presents a threatto group identity, making people increasingly turntoward their ethnic minority culture and group.This interpretation might hold for the

665Ecuadoreans but cannot explain why a similarassociation was not found for the Moroccanadolescents who face relatively more discrimina-tion. One possible explanation is that Moroccansare more dissimilar and that discrimination is

670especially painful when people (i.e., theEcuadoreans) feel rejected despite their culturalsimilarities. Another explanation is that culturalcharacteristics and religion rather than perceiveddiscrimination are more important for the ethnic

675cultural orientation of Moroccan youth.Length of residence was negatively associated

with perceived discrimination in both groups. Thismight indicate that with time adolescents arediscriminated against less because they have

680adapted more to the host society. The gradualmastering of the language over time; the increasedknowledge of host society norms, values andpractices; and the higher number of contacts withnative Spaniards will probably contribute to a

685more positive reaction of the mainstream societyand a more qualified interpretation of thesereactions. Future research should examine thisinteresting relationship more closely.

In order to evaluate the findings some limita-690tions should be mentioned. For example, the cross-

sectional data do not allow one to draw causalconclusions as to the adaptation processes in theethnic groups. Perceptions of discrimination, andethnic and mainstream cultural orientations, may

695also be the result of adolescents’ psychologicalwellbeing. Longitudinal research should examinethe different processes and developments in thepsychological adaptation of adolescents fromdifferent ethnic groups. This type of research is

700also important for considering the level of cultural

8 BRIONES ET AL.

XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

familiarity and psychological wellbeing that immi-grant youth have when entering the host society.The ethnic group differences that we found for therelationship between length of residence and

705 psychological adaptation might be related to thefact that compared to the Ecuadoreans theMoroccans had lower wellbeing to start with.This interpretation would imply that over time, thelevel of psychological adaptation of both ethnic

710 groups will become more similar. Future researchshould examine this possibility in relation to thecontinuing or changing levels of social rejectionand discrimination that different immigrantgroups in Spanish society face.

715 Another limitation is that the findings mayreflect the specific national and local setting inwhich the research was conducted. For example,the participants attended schools that had arelatively high number of ethnic minority students,

720 and Spain is a country with a relatively recenthistory of immigration. However, the fact that thetwo immigrant groups live in the same country andin the same local contexts is important because itmeans that the particular setting can not explain

725 the immigrant group differences found. Thus, wecan draw more reliable conclusions about thedifferential importance of the acculturation vari-ables for the psychological adaptation of differentgroups of immigrant youth. It is important to

730 note, however, that the two samples clearlydiffered in their Spanish language competenceand that in the analysis we disregarded a relativelylarge proportion of the original Moroccan samplebecause of their insufficient ability to respond to

735 questions asked in Spanish. This probably meansthat we have examined the more integratedMoroccan adolescents and this could explain, forexample, why we found a positive associationbetween ethnic cultural orientation and main-

740 stream cultural orientation. It is possible that forMoroccan adolescents who predominantly or onlyspeak their own language, this association isnegative or that both orientations are independent.Future research should also examine Moroccan

745 immigrant youth who are not proficient in theSpanish language in order to see whether thecurrent findings are specific for the linguisticallymore integrated adolescents. It might be that forthe former group the orientation on the own ethnic

750 culture and community is even more important forpsychological wellbeing because they face morediscrimination and need more support in adaptingto the host society.

In conclusion, our findings show that main-755 stream cultural orientation and perceived ethnic

discrimination are important factors in the

psychological adjustment of immigrant youth,whereas the length of time in the new countryand the ethnic cultural orientation play a more

760important role for Moroccan than for Ecuadoreanimmigrants. A likely reason for this ethnic groupdifference is the difference in cultural distancefrom Spanish society and the social evaluation ofthe two groups. However, the two groups differ in

765many aspects such as language, religion, history,and legal status, and it is not fully clear which ofthese differences are responsible for the differentfindings for the Moroccan and Ecuadoreanadolescents. Future studies should examine this

770more closely; for example, by measuring differentconstructs, following adolescents over a period oftime, or comparing the psychological wellbeing ofmembers of the same ethnic group who live indifferent cultural settings and host societies. In the

775current research, we found that the psychologicaladaptation of the Moroccan immigrants improveswith length of residence in spite of the relativelystrong rejection that they face in Spanish society.This suggests that the cultural differences are

780important. Living longer in the country of settle-ment implies more opportunities to learn themainstream language and cultural norms, values,and customs, in spite of the existing discrimina-tion. In addition, the orientation on their own

785group together with an interest in the mainstreamsociety seems a successful coping strategy.Maintaining an ethnic orientation without beinginterested in the mainstream culture is psycholo-gically more difficult because adolescents partici-

790pate in settings and are involved in academicprograms designed and implemented by the main-stream society.The findings raise the question of effective

interventions for promoting positive youth devel-795opment. In order to improve life satisfaction and

psychological functioning (social self-efficacy andperceived social support) of immigrant adoles-cents, it seems important to address discriminationand to support immigrants’ simultaneous partici-

800pation in the host society and in their ethniccommunities. This means that assimilation andsegregation should be avoided. Grassroots asso-ciations and activism (Paloma, Garcıa-Ramırez,de la Mata, AMAL-Andaluza Association, 2010)

805can be effective in bridging the gap betweennewcomers and the mainstream society. Schoolscan also promote intercultural acceptance andengagement in society by stimulating positivecontacts between different groups in class and

810with extracurricular activities. Also, those groupswho do not share the language, culture, andreligion of the mainstream society might require

PSYCHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION AND ETHNICITY 9

XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

special attention (e.g., linguistic) to support theiradaptation to society. Measures promoting posi-

815 tive attitudes to cultural diversity and the trainingof intercultural skills might be critical for asuccessful and satisfying life in multiethnicsocieties.Research comparing different immigrant groups

820 is much needed but still quite rare. We have triedto show that this type of research can improve ourunderstanding of the factors and processesinvolved in psychological adaptation. Futureresearch should examine these factors and pro-

825 cesses more closely using different research meth-ods, by comparing immigrant groups in othersettings and countries, and by considering variousacculturation conditions.

Manuscript received June 2010

830 Revised manuscript accepted December 2010

First published online Month/year

REFERENCES

Bandura, A. (2006). Adolescent development from anagentic perspective. In F. Pajares, & T. Urdan (Eds.),

835 Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents (Vol. 5, pp. 1–43).Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

Barrete, G., Bourhis, R. Y., Personnaz, M., &Personnaz, B. (2004). Acculturation orientation ofFrench and North African undergraduates in Paris.

840 International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 28,415–438.

Bentler, P. M. (1995). Structural equations programmanual. Encino, CA: Multivariate Software.

Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and

845 adaptation. Applied Psycholog, 46, 5–68.Berry, J. W., Phinney, J. S., Sam, D. L., & Vedder, P.

(2006). Immigrant youth: Acculturation, identity,and adaptation. Applied Psychology, 55, 303–332.

Berry, J. W., & Sabatier, C. (2010). Acculturation,

850 discrimination, and adaptation among second gen-eration immigrant youth in Montreal and Paris.International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34,191–207.

Branscombe, N. R., Schmitt, M. T., & Harvey, R. D.

855 (1999). Perceiving pervasive discrimination amongAfrican-Americans: Implications for group identifi-cation and well-being. Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology, 77, 135–149.

Briones, E., Tabernero, C., & Arenas, A. (2005a). Hacia

860 la integracion social de los ninos inmigrantes en laescuela. Una aproximacion desde el estudio de susactitudes y sesgo endogrupal interetnico.In J. Romay, R. Garcıa, & J. E. Real (Eds.),Psicologıa social y problemas sociales (Vol. 2,

865 pp. 157–163). Madrid, Spain: Editorial BibliotecaNueva.

Briones, E., Tabernero, C., & Arenas, A. (2005b).Variables psicosociales relacionadas con el procesode integracion social de los estudiantes inmigrantes.

870 Cultura y Educacion, 17, 337–347.Briones, E., Tabernero, C., & Arenas, A. (2010).

Satisfaccion de adolescentes autoctonos e inmigrantes

con el paıs de residencia. Influencia de variablespsicosociales relativas al contacto intergrupal.

875Unpublished manuscript.Briones, E., Tabernero, C., Tramontano, C., Caprara,

G. V., & Arenas, A. (2009). Development of acultural self-efficacy scale for adolescents (CSES-A).International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 33,

880301–312.Byrne, B. M. (1994). Structural equation modeling with

EQS and EQS/Windows: Basic concepts, applicationsand programming. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Cea D’Ancona, M. A., & Valles, M. S. (2009). Evolucion

885del racismo y la xenofobia en Espana [Informe 2009].Madrid, Spain: Ministerio de Trabajo e Inmigracion,Subdireccion General de Informacion Administrativay Publicaciones.

Chavira, V., & Phinney, J. (1991). Adolescents’ ethnic

890identity, self-esteems and strategies for dealing withethnicity and minority status. Hispanic Journal ofBehavioural Sciences, 13, 226–227.

Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluatinggoodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement

895invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 233–255.Church, A. (1982). Sojourner adjustment. Psychological

Bulletin, 91, 540–572.Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003).

Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the

900behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: LawrenceErlbaum Associates Publishers.

Cooper, M. (2008). Overcoming barriers to the positivedevelopment and engagement of ethno-racial minorityyouth in Canada. Calgary, Canada: Canadian

905Heritage.Cross, W. E. (1995). The psychology of negrescence:

Revising the cross model. In J. G. Ponterotto,J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, &C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural

910counseling (pp. 93–122). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy:

Bilingual children in the crossfire. Clevedon, UK:Multilingual Matters.

Diener, E. R., Emmons, R., Larsen, R., & Griffin, S.

915(1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal ofPersonality Assessment, 49, 71–75.

Dıez Nicolas, J. (2005). Las dos caras de la inmigracion.Madrid, Spain: Ministerio de Trabajo y AsuntosSociales.

920Fan, C., & Mak, A. (1998). Measuring socialself-efficacy in a culturally diverse student popula-tion. Social Behavior and Personality, 26, 131–144.

Fisher, C. B., Wallace, S. A., & Fenton, R. E. (2000).Discrimination distress during adolescence. Journal

925of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 679–695.Furnham, A., & Bochner, S. (1982). Social difficulty in

a foreign culture. In S. Bochner (Ed.), Cultures incontact (pp. 161–198). Elmsford, NY: Pergamon.

Garcıa Coll, C., Lamberty, G., Jenkins, R., McAdoo, H.

930P., Crnic, K., Wasik, B. H., et al. (1996). Anintegrative model for the study of developmentalcompetencies in minority children. ChildDevelopment, 67, 1891–1914.

Golding, J. M., & Burnam, M. A. (1990). Immigration,

935stress and depressive symptoms in a Mexican-American community. Journal of Nervous andMental Disease, 178, 161–171.

Greene, M., Way, N., & Pahl, K. (2006). Trajectories ofperceived adult and peer discrimination among

10 BRIONES ET AL.

XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

940 Black, Latino, and Asian American adolescents:Patterns and psychological correlates.Developmental Psychology, 42, 218–238.

Hechanova-Alampay, R., Beehr, T. A., Christiansen, N.D., & Van Horn, R. K. (2002). Adjustment and strain

945 among domestic and international student sojour-ners: A longitudinal study. School PsychologyInternational, 23, 458–474.

Hernandez-Plaza, S. (2004). The role of informal socialsupport in needs assessment: Proposal and applica-

950 tion of a model to assess immigrants’ needs in thesouth of Spain. Journal of Community & AppliedSocial Psychology, 14, 284–298.

Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria forfit indexes in covariance structure analysis:

955 Conventional criteria versus new alternatives.Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55.

INE (2008). National immigrant survey 2007. Madrid,Spain: Instituto Nacional de Estadıstica.

Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., Liebkind, K., Jaakkola, M., &

960 Reuter, A. (2006). Perceived discrimination, socialsupport networks, and psychological well-beingamong three immigrant groups. Journal ofCross-Cultural Psychology, 37, 293–311.

Kaiser, C. R., & Pratt-Hyatt, J. S. (2009). Distributing

965 prejudice unequally: Do Whites direct their prejudicetoward strongly identified minorities? Journal ofPersonality and Social Psychology, 69, 432–445.

Lasry, J. C. (1988). Immigrants’ mental health andsocial relations in Montreal. In J. W. Berry, &

970 R. C. Annis (Eds.), Ethnic psychology: Research andpractice with immigrants, refugees, native peoples,ethnic groups and sojourners (pp. 125–134). Lisse,The Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal

975 and coping. New York, NY: Springer.Lerner, R. M. (2005, September). Promoting positive

youth development: Theoretical and empirical bases(White paper prepared for the Workshop on theScience of Adolescent Health and Development,

980 National Research Council/Institute of Medicine).Washington, DC: National Academies of Science.

Liebkind, L., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2000).Acculturation and psychological wellbeing amongimmigrant adolescents in Finland: A comparative

985 study of adolescents from different cultural back-grounds. Journal of Adolescent Research, 15,446–469.

Maruny, L. L., & Molina, M. (2000). Adquisio del catalai competencia comunicativa en alumnes d’origen

990 marroquı a l’ensenyament obligatori. Unpublishedresearch report. Barcelona, Spain: Fundacio JaumeBofill.

Mena, F. J., Padilla, A. M., & Maldonado, M. (1987).Acculturative stress and specific coping strategies

995 among immigrant and later generation collegestudents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 9,207–225.

Morales, L., Anduiza, E., Rodrıguez, E., & San Martın,J. (2008). Capital social, pautas identitarias y

1000 actitudes hacia ‘‘los otros’’: La incorporacion cıvicade la poblacion de origen inmigrante en Barcelona yMadrid. Panorama Social, 8, 119–142.

Navarro, J. L., & Huguet, A. (2005). El conocimiento dela lengua castellana en alumnado emigrante de 1� de la

1005 ESO. Un estudio empırico. Madrid, Spain: CIDE.

Navarro, J. L., & Huguet, A. (2006). Acerca de lacompetencia linguıstica del alumnado de origeninmigrante en educacion secundaria. RevistaInteruniversitaria de Formacion del Profesorado, 20,

101069–80.Navas, M. S., & Cuadrado, I. (2001). El prejuicio etnico:

Cronica de un conflicto anunciado.In F. Checa (Ed.), El Ejido: La ciudad-cortijo(pp. 171–206). Barcelona, Spain: Icaria.

1015Paloma, V., Garcıa-Ramırez, M., de la Mata, M., &AMAL-Andaluza, Association (2010). Acculturativeintegration, self and citizenship construction:The experience of Amal-Andaluza, a grassrootsorganization of Moroccan woman in Andalusia.

1020International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34,101–113.

Pascoe, E. A., & Richman, L. S. (2009). Perceiveddiscrimination and health: A meta-analytic review.Psychological Bulletin, 135, 531–554.

1025Phinney, J. (1989). Stages of ethnic identity in minoritygroup adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 9,34–49.

Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2006). ImmigrantAmerica: A portrait (3rd ed.). Berkeley, CA:

1030University of California Press.Rojas, A. J., Garcıa, C., & Navas, M. (2003).

Test de sesgo endogrupal interetnico: Estudios defiablidad y de evidencias de validez. Psicothema, 15,101–108.

1035Rudmin, F. W. (2003). Critical history of the accultura-tion psychology of assimilation, separation, integra-tion, & marginalization. Review of GeneralPsychology, 7, 3–37.

Rumbaut, R. G. (2008). Reaping what you sow:

1040Immigration, youth, and reactive ethnicity. AppliedDevelopmental Science, 12, 108–111.

Ryder, A. G., Alden, L. E., & Paulhus, D. L. (2000).Is acculturation unidimensional or bidimensional?A head to-head comparison in the prediction of

1045personality, self-identity, and adjustment.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79,49–65.

Sam, D. L. (2000). Psychological adaptation of adoles-cents with immigrant backgrounds. Journal of Social

1050Psychology, 140, 5–25.Sarason, B. R., Pierce, G. R., & Sarason, I. G. (1990a).

Social support: The sense of acceptance and the roleof relationships. In B. R. Sarason, I. G. Sarason, &G. R. Pierce (Eds.), Social support: An interactional

1055view (pp. 97–128). New York, NY: Wiley.Sarason, B. R., Pierce, G. R., & Sarason, I. G. (1990b).

Social support and interactional processes: A triadichypothesis. Journal of Social and PersonalRelationships, 7, 495–506.

1060Tsang, E. W. K. (2001). Adjustment of mainlandChinese academics and students to Singapore.International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 25,347–372.

Vedder, P., Van de Vijver, F., & Liebkind, K. (2006).

1065Predicting immigrant youths’ adaptation acrosscountries and ethnocultural groups. In J. W. Berry,J. S. Phinney, D. L. Sam, & P. Vedder (Eds.),Migrant youth in cultural transition: Acculturation,identity, and adaptation across national contexts

1070(pp. 143–166). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence ErlbaumAssociates.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION AND ETHNICITY 11

XML Template (2011) [5.4.2011–6:12pm] [1–12]K:/PIJP/PIJP_A_569722.3d (PIJP) [PREPRINTER stage]

Verkuyten, M. (2008). Life satisfaction among ethnicminorities: The role of discrimination and groupidentification. Social Indicators Research, 89,

1075 391–404.Verkuyten, M., & Thijs, J. (2006). Ethnic discrimination

and global self-worth in early adolescence.International Journal of Behavioral Development, 30,107–116.

1080 Ward, C. (1996). Acculturation. In D. Landis, &B. Bhagat (Eds.), Handbook of interculturaltraining (2nd ed., pp. 124–147). Thousand Oaks,CA: Sage.

Ward, C., Okura, Y., Kennedy, A., & Kojima, T. (1998).

1085The U-curve on trial: A longitudinal study ofpsychological and sociocultural adjustment duringcross-cultural transition. International Journal ofIntercultural Relations, 22, 277–291.

Ward, C., & Rana-Deuba, A. (2000). Home and host

1090culture influences on sojourner adjustment.International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 24,291–306.

Weinert, C., & Brandt, P. A. (1987). Measuring socialsupport with the Personal Resource Questionnaire.

1095Western Journal of Nursing Research, 9, 589–602.

12 BRIONES ET AL.