engleski

Effects of ethnic discrimination on the health of Bosnian immigrant adolescents

The present paper describes some community risk and/or protective factors related to adjustment of young refugees and immigrants that are additional to those identified generally for psychosocial health during adolescent development. These risk factors refer primarily to the adolescents’ negotiation of the acculturation process and socio-cultural identity, as well as to social distance between ethnic groups, and exposure to ethnic discrimination and violence in the new environment. The paper aims at assessing the predicting ability of these risk factors as sources of acculturative stress for general and psychological health, and the relative importance of their relationships with socioeconomic and protective factors in different environments. The sample analyzed consists of 1084 Bosnian adolescents including those displaced in Bosnia & Herzegovina and permanently settled refugees in Croatia. The obtained results show a strong association of low social support and/or low socioeconomic conditions with general health problems and negative affect (depression and anxiety), while discrimination clearly plays a significant incremental role in negative outcomes, particularly for Bosniac Muslim minority in Croatia. The negative impact of discrimination on health was also associated with exposure to violence and social distance. Among protective factors, in addition to social support it appears that a strong sense of religious commitment of Bosniac adolescents living in Croatia acts protectively and neutralizes exposure to community risks.

acculturation; discrimination; health

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