title: Transition to a New Country: Acculturative and Developmental Predictors for Changes in Self-Efficacy among Adolescent Immigrants.
abstract: Self-efficacy is a key personal resource in individual development and successful adaptation, and it can serve innumerable purposes. Our study investigated levels and change rates in self-efficacy among newcomer and more experienced immigrant adolescents and tested whether acculturation-related and developmental variables explained inter-individual differences in self-efficacy in both groups. The sample comprised 480 newcomer (59% female, 15.8 years old) and 483 experienced (55% female, 15.9 years old) immigrant adolescents, assessed in four annual waves. Latent growth curve models showed newcomers to have lower levels and more pronounced increases of self-efficacy as compared to experienced immigrant adolescents. Both acculturation-related and developmental variables predicted self-efficacy. The results highlight the need for focusing on immigration stages and support the notion of combining developmental and acculturative factors in the study of immigrant adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Leibniz University Hanover, Hanover, Germany. titzmann@psychologie.uni-hannover.de.|Department of Sociology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. titzmann@psychologie.uni-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Peter F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Titzmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jugert
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D020377:Self Efficacy
keywords: Acculturation; Adolescence; Adolescent immigrants; Developmental transition; Self-efficacy