title: Assessing psychological symptoms in recent immigrant adolescents.
abstract: Immigrant youth are often exposed to numerous psychosocial stressors, placing them at risk for psychological distress. Little research assesses psychopathology in this population during early stages of acculturation. This study compared student and teacher reports of psychological symptoms in a diverse sample of recently immigrated youth. Students (N = 174) attended public high schools in a northeastern city. Students and teachers independently completed the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment, and four DSM-derived subscales were explored. Psychological symptoms among immigrant students were higher than normative rates. Across all subscales, teacher ratings of student symptoms were significantly lower than student self-reported symptoms, and this difference was larger than that found in a normative sample. Results suggest that many immigrant youth experience psychological problems but may not be perceived as being in distress. Therefore, the most effective assessment approach may be active screening, rather than relying on self initiated help-seeking or teacher observation alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, 2727 Mariposa Street, Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA. sita.patel@ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Sita G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kull
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009511:New England; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
references.citation: Int Migr Rev. 1984 Summer;18(2):237-57
references.pmid: 12312999
references.citation: J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2008 Mar;49(3):251-75
references.pmid: 18333930