The role of identity and psychosomatic symptoms as mediating the relationship between discrimination and risk behaviors among first and second generation immigrant adolescents

The study examines psychosomatic symptoms, and host and heritage identities as mediators of
the relationship between discrimination and aggressive behavior and substance use. Israeli data
from the 2013-14 Health Behaviors of School-aged Children study included a representative
sample of 1503 first- and second-generation immigrant adolescents aged 11–17 years (45.2%
male) from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia in Israel. Structural equation modeling, controlling
for age, gender, family affluence and immigrant generation, showed different pathways
for the two groups. For FSU-heritage adolescents, the relationship between discrimination and
aggressive behavior and substance use was partially mediated by psychosomatic symptoms.
Lower host and heritage identities also predicted psychosomatic symptoms. For Ethiopian-heritage
adolescents, the relationship between discrimination and outcomes was fully mediated by
psychosomatic symptoms and a weaker host identity. Results support an externalizing model,
whereby discrimination leads to a weaker host identity and increased psychosomatic symptoms,
associated with substance use and aggressive behavior.
1. Introduction