Home > Events > The Experience of Separations & Reunifications for Adolescent Immigrant Youth

The Experience of Separations & Reunifications for Adolescent Immigrant Youth

A lecture by Dr. Carola Suarez-Orozco, Professor of Applied Psychology and Co-Director of Immigration Studies at NYU. Hosted by the UCLA Migration Studies Group.

Friday, February 12, 2010
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Moore Hall 3340
Los Angeles, CA United States

Many transnational families undergo profound transformations that are often complicated by extended periods of separation between loved ones. Using a diverse sample of 282 newcomer adolescents from China, Central America, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico, we find that nearly three-quarters of the participants had been separated from one or both parents for extended periods. Results of GLM analyses indicate that children who were separated from their parents were more likely to report symptoms of anxiety and depression in the initial years after migrating than children who had not been separated; follow-up analyses five years later, however, show that symptoms had abated. Multinomial regression analyses establish that students who had undergone long-term separations were more likely to demonstrate low or precipitous trajectories of academic performance over time. Qualitative data from youth and parents shed light on the experience of separations and reunifications.

Cost: Free and open to the public