Second-generation adolescents experience identity conflict when trying to adapt to the United States. This identity conflict may be compounded for Asians, who experience racialization of their ethnicity. This intensity of identity conflict and racialization of ethnicity is reflected in different pairings of racial and ethnic identities (e.g., Hyphenated-Nationality, Hyphenated-Asian). We examine how these identity pairings are associated with mental health. Analysis used a sample of 1,308 second-generation Asian adolescents (aged 15–19) from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study Wave 2 (1995–1996). Although not all associations were significant, low levels of identity conflict tended to be associated with lower levels of depression and more problem behaviors. Perhaps these identity pairings help reduce depression by lowering identity conflict while increasing peer conflicts. The analysis also showed that among adolescents with the same type of ethnic identity, mental health varied across racial identity, highlighting the importance of examining identity pairings.
Parental ethnic–racial socialization practices and the construction of children of color’s ethnic–racial identity: A research synthesis and meta-analysis.
