immigration distress, mental health status and coping among young immigrants: a 1-year follow-up...

Immigration distress, mental health status and coping among youngimmigrants: A 1-year follow-up study

Sophie Walsh a,*, Shmuel Shulman b, Offer Maurer b

a Department of Criminology, Bar Ilan University, 52900 Ramat Gan, Israelb Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

A R T I C L E I N F O

Article history:

Accepted 17 June 2008

Keywords:

Immigration

Emerging adulthood

Sense of self

Adjustment

A B S T R A C T

The current study explores the relationship between psychological difficulty following

immigration, and well-being and coping with age-related tasks among emerging adults.

In-depth interviews were conducted with 68 young immigrants (19–25 years) from the

Former Soviet Union in Israel, focusing on the immigration experience and its related

distress. One year later, levels of functioning were assessed (levels of psychological

symptoms, reaction to and coping with stressful life events and achievement of

developmentally appropriate tasks). Results showed that emotional distress from the

immigration experience affected later functioning. However the impact was not uniform.

Among emerging adults with initially lower psychological health, experienced immigra-

tion distress significantly impacted in a negative way on coping and on the level of

independent decision making. Emerging adults with an initially overall healthy

psychological organization, while also experiencing immigration distress, were less

likely to be negatively affected by it. Results also suggest that a premature tendency to try

to cope with cultural ambivalence during the first years following immigration had a

negative impact on individuals’ coping and functioning.

� 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

This study aims to examine individual differences among emerging adults in the immigration experience, during the firstfew years following their move to the new country. It focuses on the relationship between the internal experience, asmeasured by feelings of subjectively experienced distress and the efforts to integrate a bi-cultural identity, and externalfunctioning, as measured through mental health, coping with stressful life events and the achievement of developmentallyappropriate tasks (independent decision making, consolidation of their outlook on the world and practical independence,Arnett, 2000; Shulman & Ben-Artzi, 2003). A short longitudinal framework was employed in order to assess the roleimmigration-related internal experiences impact on subsequent functioning.

1.1. Immigration as a potentially positive or negative experience

The process of transition involved in immigration has been described as a potentially positive experience, representingthe opportunity for personal growth and self-development (Adler, 1975; Aronowitz, 1984). For example, recent research(Berry, Phinney, Sam, & Vedder, 2006) on immigrant adolescents in 13 countries, found that immigrant youth were just aswell adapted as their national peers and, on the whole, even reported slightly fewer psychological problems, better school

International Journal of Intercultural Relations 32 (2008) 371–384

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +972 522877609.

E-mail addresses: [email protected] (S. Walsh), [email protected] (S. Shulman), [email protected] (O. Maurer).

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adjustment and fewer behavioral problems as compared with non-immigrant adolescents. However, at the same timeimmigration is also a potentially risk-laden, negative experience which can endanger one’s identity. This latter phenomenonhas been described as ‘culture shock’ (Garza-Guerrero, 1974; Ticho, 1971) or a ‘crisis’ (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1989) that occursas a result of sudden loss of the ‘average expectable environment’ (Hartmann, 1950) and the move to a strange andunpredictable one. Of note, when very major difficulties are experienced, the immigrant is at risk of developing more severeproblems, or ‘‘psychopathology’’ (Berry, 1997).

1.2. Immigration and stress

Stress following immigration is expressed in the difficulties that the individual faces in the new country, such aseconomic hardship, language and cultural gaps, discrimination, and a loss of social, familial and support networks. Quiteconsistently, adverse impacts of immigration have been found across a variety of domains such as mental health andpsychological well-being (e.g. Fenta, Hyman, & Noh, 2004; Ryan, Leavey, Golden, Blizard, & King, 2006), developmentalprocesses (Berry et al., 2006; Walsh, Shulman, Feldman, & Maurer, 2005), educational achievement (Fuligni, Witkow, &Garcia, 2005; Rumbaut, 2000), and family and social relationships (Fuligni, Yip, & Tseng, 2002; Kwak, 2003; Phinney, Ong, &Madden, 2000; Portes, 1997) among many others.

Based on Oberg’s (1960) term of ‘culture shock’, Furnham (1990) describes six common aspects that characterizeimmigration-related stress: (1) strain due to the effort required to make necessary psychological adaptations; (2) a sense ofloss and feelings of deprivation in regard to friends, status, profession and possessions; (3) being rejected by and rejectingmembers of the new culture; (4) confusion in role, role expectations, values, feelings and self-identity; (5) surprise, anxiety,disgust and indignation after becoming aware of cultural differences; and 6) feelings of impotence due to not being able tocope with the new environment.

However, stress is not only the result of experiencing loss of the old culture and rejection by the new one. Realization ofthe cultural gaps between the old and the new culture and anticipation of the extent of required change can also become asource of stress (Berry, Trimble, & Olmedo, 1986; Phinney, 1990). Berry (1997, 1998) in looking at this ‘‘acculturation’’process identifies a continuum of psychological acculturation involving differing levels of difficulty for the individual. At oneend are psychological changes which can be considered to be relatively non-conflictual and easy to accomplish. Referred toas ‘‘behavioral shifts’’ or ‘‘culture learning’’, psychological adaptations to acculturation are a matter of learning a newbehavioral repertoire appropriate for the new cultural context. When more conflict occurs, ‘‘culture shock’’ or ‘‘acculturativestress’’ can be considered to take place. While this may be stressful for the individual, the efforts the immigrant makes tocope with acculturative stress also have the potential for growth and future adaptation.

1.3. Immigration, stress and internal processes

The process of transition involved in immigration is not only limited to the experience of actual difficulties such aseconomic hardships or the loss of social ties, and ‘‘cultural shifts’’ (Berry, 1997). Immigration-related stress can be alsoconceptualized through its impact on the inner world of the immigrant. Research and theory has examined the adverseimpact on sense of self (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1989), levels of subjectively experienced immigration distress, vicissitudes inidentity (Garza-Guerrero, 1974; Schwartz, Montgomery, & Briones, 2006), and damage to feelings of self-continuity andconsistency, and immigration-related ambivalence (Akhtar, 1999) as the immigrant tries to construct a new identity basedon a sense of connection to the heritage and new cultures. According to Akhtar (1999) stressful experiences lead toalternating between idealizations and devaluations of the former and new country until the representations can be broughttogether to form integrated representations of heritage and receiving lands.

This ambivalence has also been explored through research and theorizing on acculturative strategies (Berry, 1997, 1998)which examines the attempt of the immigrant to make sense of his or her connection to two cultural milieu, that of theheritage country and that of the receiving country. Research has showed that the ability to form a multi-faceted identitywhich incorporates a connection to both identities (‘‘integration’’—Berry, 1997) is linked to higher levels of both mental andphysical health (Berry & Kim, 1988; Phinney & Devich-Navarro, 1997; Virta, Sam, & Westin, 2004). Interestingly, recentresearch (Vedder, van de Vijver, & Liebkind, 2006) has stressed the importance of ethnic orientation, over and aboveintegration, as being important in both psychological and socio-cultural adaptation. In fact, an overly large cultural gapbetween the heritage and receiving cultures may lead to considerable distress on the part of the individual who attempts tocombine both in their identity and risks potential rejection from both cultures (Akhtar, 1999; Rudmin, 2003; Schwartz et al.,2006).

Research has also examined the impact of immigration on one’s sense of self. Ben-David (1996), looking at the impact ofimmigration among Russian immigrants in Israel, found that immigrants showed fewer feelings of confidence in thepredictability and explicability of the environment, together with fewer feelings of confidence in one’s inner resources.Walsh and Horenczyk (2001) examining English speaking immigrants in Israel, describe the loss of feelings of competenceand a sense of belonging. Eleftheriadou (1997) in a study of a young Arab female living in England illustrates the feelings ofloss and inner confusion experienced after moving from a familiar cultural framework and the careful exploration neededbefore a person can feel able to relate to the new context and to him/herself again. McIntyre and Augusto (1999) in theiranalysis of the ‘Martyr adaptation syndrome’, amongst Portuguese speaking immigrant women, discuss a two-phase process

S. Walsh et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 32 (2008) 371–384372

whereby an initial ‘super-coping’ phase is replaced by a ‘collapse’ phase. A pervasive loss of sense of self leads to an inabilityto negotiate an identity in the new culture.

Taken together, stress related to actual experienced hardships is paralleled by internal experiences of loss, distress andefforts to accommodate to the new culture. As suggested above, while inner experiences of loss and distress may be negative,efforts for cultural adaptation, albeit stressful, carry with them the potential for adaptation over time (Akhtar, 1999; Berry,1997).

While much theoretical literature has been written on the impact of the immigration process on internal processes(e.g. Akhtar, 1999; Garza-Guerrero, 1974; Grinberg & Grinberg, 1989), this literature has been little tested empirically. Inaddition, the impact of conceptualized internal immigration-related processes on adaptation and functioning has notbeen examined. This study is an attempt to take theoretical concepts (such as immigration stress and efforts to integratecultural ambivalence) and operationalize them through research. It is also a first attempt to connect inner experience ofthe immigrant with external functioning, to explore not only whether the theoretical terms are of relevance but also theextent to which inner feelings impact on external coping and functioning. In contrast with previous empirical literatureon the impact of immigration on the self it also uses a short longitudinal framework. Fuligni (2001) reflects that most ofthe research on immigration, to date, has been cross-sectional and suggests that it is only through longitudinal researchthat we can move to a better investigation and understanding of the changes and the process of the individual immigrantover time.

1.4. Immigration and emerging adulthood

This work is looking at the immigration experience of emerging adults. Emerging adulthood is a unique age whoseconceptualization has begun in the past few years (Arnett, 2000). It is a period of experimentation and exploration in love,work and the young person’s worldview (Arnett, 2000; Arnett, Ramos, & Jenson, 2001). The young person is both preparingfor adulthood and also experimenting with different possibilities. In preparation for adulthood, the young person is involvedin a process of consolidation of a sense of self or identity in the various areas of his or her life. Love relationships areexperimented with and gradually become more serious. Work experiences become more focused on preparation for adultwork roles over time. Emerging adulthood is a time of both challenges and instability. As such, emerging adult immigrantsare simultaneously challenged by the instability caused by immigration, together with the instability inherent in thedevelopmental process.

Immigration, for emerging adults, can be an arena for exploration of new life styles. It might be reasonable to assume thatage-related exploration would facilitate young people’s ability to adapt and make the required ‘‘behavioral shifts’’ (Berry,1997) and internal maneuvers needed for successful acculturation. It would seem possible that for emerging adults who arealready going through a process of re-negotiation or consolidation of their sense of self, the reorganization of self due to theimmigration could blend together with the developmental process. As stated above, previous research on immigration hashighlighted both the potential for growth and development as well as the potential for damage to a sense of self due to theimmigration experience. The impact of experienced damage may thus affect not only general adaptation but also theattainment of age-related tasks. Moreover, emerging adulthood is also characterized by instability when young peopleoscillate between different roles, residence, and periods of employment–unemployment (ERGIS, 2001). Distress experiencedby immigrants, may enhance the sense of instability. On the other hand, emerging adulthood is also a stage of identityexploration (Arnett, 2000). Navigating successfully between different expressions of oneself has the potential to lead to morefavorable outcomes. In this vein, efforts to integrate components of the old and the new culture may become a means forbetter identity achievement.

To summarize, internal immigration-related experiences are of relevance for the understanding of coping and adaptationamong emerging adult immigrants. Elevated experienced distress may lead to increased difficulties in coping andadaptation. In contrast, efforts to integrate old and new cultures experiences, while being stressful on the short run,exemplify movement toward integration and as such can contribute to better coping and adaptation of the emerging adultimmigrant in the long run.

2. Research questions and hypotheses

This study examines the relevance of the concepts of experienced immigration distress and efforts to integrate culturalambivalence following immigration, and examines their impact on immigrants’ psychological health and on their ability tocope in the years shortly after immigration. In addition, it also examines to what extent these processes impact on the age-related functioning of emerging adults (independent decision making, consolidation of their outlook on the world andpractical independence, Arnett, 2000; Shulman & Ben-Artzi, 2003). In the paper we use the term ‘‘immigration stress’’ torelate to the objective immigration-related events (e.g. coping with changes in language and culture, economic and housingdifficulties, etc.) and ‘‘immigration distress’’ to describe the subjective experience of these events (internal feelings ofsadness, anger, frustration, etc.).

(1) The study hypothesized that the greater the experienced immigration distress, the lower the level of coping followingimmigration, and the greater the psychopathology reported by young immigrants. In contrast, efforts to integrate culturalambivalence would predict better coping and lower psychopathology after a period of 1 year. (2) The study also

S. Walsh et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 32 (2008) 371–384 373

hypothesized that the higher the experienced immigration distress, the lower the ability to achieve developmentallyappropriate tasks of emerging adulthood. In contrast, efforts to integrate cultural ambivalence would predict higherattainment of age-related tasks after a period of 1 year.

(3) The study also sought to examine to what extent such effects may be uniform across the whole sample or to whatextent the impact of immigration distress and cultural ambivalence may differ across the sample. In particular, based on theimmigration literature (Berry, 1997, 1998), this study hypothesized that emerging adult immigrants with better earlymental health status would, despite immigration distress, manage to incorporate the challenges without damage to theirfunctioning and psychological health. Among immigrants revealing higher levels of psychological symptoms, theimmigration difficulties would have a stronger impact on their functioning. Examination of the possible differential impactof immigration distress is assessed in relation to level of coping (hypothesis 1) and attainment of age-related tasks(hypothesis 2).

In order to examine the study questions, a short longitudinal design was planned. Interviews with emerging adultsaddressing the immigration experience and assessing levels of psychological health were conducted. One year later, levels ofparticipants’ coping with stressful life events, psychological health, and achievement of tasks of emerging adulthood wereassessed.

3. Russian immigration to Israel

This study took place in Israel, a country with large numbers of immigrants. Between the years 1990 and 2003, over1,100,000 immigrants came to Israel (making 13% of the total national population). Approximately 9.5% were between theages of 20 and 24, and approximately 85% came from Eastern Europe (figures from the Israeli Central Bureau for Statistics andthe Ministry of Immigrant Absorption). This makes this research both very relevant and essential to understanding theexperience emerging adult immigrants go through.

The mass influx of immigrants from the FSU from 1990 to today has taken place following the break up of the Sovietregime and the socio-economic crisis and instability that ensued, which also led to increased waves of anti-Semitism(Remennick, 1999). The immigrants have been largely highly educated, with 60% of men and women holding academicdegrees (Remennick, 1999). For example, in 1990, one in six former Soviet immigrants was an engineer, medical doctor orscientist in their homeland (Basok & Robert, 1991). Aroian, Norris, and Chiang (2003) point out that much research onimmigration has focused on the move from ‘‘traditional’’ societies (in which family structures and gender roles take atraditional form) to ‘‘Western’’ societies. They assert that the FSU is a fairly egalitarian Western society. Both men andwomen are educated and expected to work outside the house. Since Russian Jewish culture and Israeli society share theintegration of family values together with Western society, the move to Israel involves a smaller cultural gap than has oftenbeen researched. This particular move of immigrants was seen to be motivated on a general level more by ‘‘push’’ factors (adesire to leave the FSU due to economic and social conditions) than by ‘‘pull’’ factors (an attraction to Israel or the seeking of ahomeland), a point rife with disagreement and tension (Lemish, 2000).

However, it has also been noted that cultural differences between the Former Soviet Union and Western nations, such asthe emphasis within Soviet families on collectivism and interdependence impact on developmental processes of immigrantadolescents (Birman & Taylor-Ritzler, 2007). In particular, in Russian culture adolescents are expected to have less autonomyand greater deference to parental authority (Mirsky, Barasch, & Goldberg, 1992; Mirsky, Baron-Draiman, & Kedem, 2002;Slonim-Nevo & Sheraga, 1997). Birman and her colleagues work on Jewish adolescents from the FSU in America (Birman &Taylor-Ritzler, 2007; Birman & Trickett, 2001; Birman, Trickett, & Buchanan, 2005) has emphasized the pivotal role ofparental support and guidance, patterns of acculturation, discrimination and community differences as buffers in theacculturation process. They also showed, interestingly, that adolescents had stronger Russian identities, at times, than didtheir parents (Birman & Trickett, 2001), which they explained partly by the lack of choice that many adolescents have in themove. However, little research has focused on emerging adult immigrants, thus raising the question as to how thedevelopmental process be experienced for emerging adult immigrants from the FSU, many of whom immigrate alone,without their families.

4. Method

4.1. Participants

The sample consisted of 68 emerging adult immigrants from the Former Soviet Union, 36 females (53%) and 32 males(47%). Criteria for the immigrant group were young people between the ages of 19 and 25 [mean age = 21.1, S.D. = 1.6(females) and mean = 21.5, S.D. = 2.0 (males)], who had immigrated at least 1 year and up to 5 years previously (mean 2.75years, S.D. = 1.35), either alone (53%, 18 females and 18 males) or with family (47%, 18 females and 14 males). The emergingadult immigrants were currently studying in a pre-university preparatory program in two different cities in Israel. Notices inRussian requesting participants for a research study on the subject of immigration were initially published around thecampuses and in absorption centers, to raise awareness of the research project. The notices explained that the participantswould be compensated for their participation. Following this, participants were contacted by telephone. Over 85% of thosecontacted by telephone agreed to take part in the project.


4.2. Procedure

4.2.1. Time 1

In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted in Hebrew by a clinical psychologist (an immigrant woman). Theinterviews, lasting between 1.5 and 2.5 h, were audio-taped and later transcribed. Questionnaires were in Russian. This wasdue to an understanding of a difference between spoken and written language skills. While the participants spoken Hebrewwas fluent (due to having participated in intensive language programs and currently studying in Hebrew1) it was assumedthat notices (informing students about the research) in Russian would catch their attention more easily and filling in forms inRussian would be faster and easier and prevent drop-out. The interviews focused on the following subjects:1. The immigration story. The emerging adults were asked to tell their immigration ‘story’, from the moment they decided to

immigrate until the day of the interview. The interview started with an open question and followed the path that theinterviewee took, while being sure that the interviewee answered all areas of investigation. Questions focused on thedifficulties which the emerging adult experienced in leaving the FSU and coming to a new country, how they had copedwith the difficulties, where they felt they were today with those difficulties and where they felt they were in terms of theirimmigration ‘‘process’’.

2. Sense of self. The emerging adults were asked to describe themselves, and to describe traits that they liked and dislikedabout themselves. They were also asked to discuss how they felt they had changed in the past 5 years, to what extentchanges were due to the immigration process (and how they understood these changes), how they felt they might changein the future, to what extent they felt that they expressed themselves differently in different contexts, and to what extentthey felt that the people around them ‘‘knew’’ them. While there were guiding subjects, the interviews also had an opennature, where the interviewer tried to collect an impression of how the young person perceived and related to his or herself-narrative and its development over time.

Recorded interviews were rated independently by two raters. As is common in qualitative research, we employed amixture of exploratory and confirmatory techniques. The literature on immigration (cited above) guided our initialreadings of the interviews. In addition, themes that emerged from reading the interviews refined our further readings ofthe material. As a result, construction of scales was conducted in the following manner: Two scales were identified:immigration distress and efforts to integrate cultural ambivalence. Then the relevance of each scale in each discoursewas assessed. Refuting evidence led to the re-discussion of a scale and its refinement. By this evolving process, proposedscales were adapted and reformulated so as to ensure that all interviews were well represented (Morrow & Smith,2000).

The formulated five-point scales represent a first attempt to operationalize the theoretical concepts of immigrationdistress and efforts to integrate cultural ambivalence (Akhtar, 1999; Grinberg & Grinberg, 1989) or build a bi-culturalidentity (Schwartz et al., 2006). The building of the scales and training of the raters took place over the period of 13 months,whereby the scales were constructed through the sensitive integration between theoretical concepts as described in theexisting literature and the experiences of the interviewees as heard through the interviews. This involved gaining a thoroughunderstanding of the nature of distress and attempts to integrate cultural ambivalence as related by the interviewees. Inter-rater reliability was established (between two clinical psychologists, who were not involved in the building of the scales)over 20 interviews and appears for each scale.

The scales, their anchor points and examples are as follows:The immigration distress scale explores the degree to which the interviewee described subjective feelings of distress. The

first stage of building the scale involved intensive reading of the interviews, in order to identify the feelings which theinterviewees were describing. All of the interviewees described difficulties dealing with immigration stressors, expressed byinner distress. These included feelings of shame, failure and a lack of competence; of injury to their sense of pride and self-respect; feeling unwanted, different or not understood; a lack of stability and feeling of belonging; and internalized negativefeelings, such as guilt, due to the experience their parents were going through.

1—The emerging adult reports few feelings of immigration distress. This may be due to family/social support, innerstrengths or beliefs, or the feeling that coping with the challenges had strengthened their sense of self. For example, ‘‘I feltreally good; I was able to help my mother. I knew Hebrew better than her. I was able to read documents, I wrote all the letterswe needed to write. Let’s say that something went wrong with the electricity, ‘Dmitri, call the landlord’, or when the phonedidn’t work, ‘Dmitri call the phone company’. I took on new roles, I grew up’’. (Dmitri2)

5—Overwhelming feelings of distress involving lowered self-esteem, feelings of confusion and disorientation,helplessness, failure or depression, e.g. ‘‘I was always an excellent student, and here, suddenly I get 30 in math. . . it feltlike a trauma. Suddenly, there I was the best and here I’m the lowest. It’s terrible, it’s like a jump, down down. I thought I’dnever get up again’’. (Olga)

1 As part of the government encouragement of immigration, various benefits are given to young adult immigrants. These include free intensive language

courses during the first year and also free university education. Within the university framework there are social workers whose job is to help the

integration of immigrant students. As a result, very high percentages of young adult immigrants study in the pre-university program (also paid for) and, as

such, the population is representative of the age group.2 All names have been changed.


The Cohen’s k for this scale was .91.The efforts to integrate cultural ambivalence scale explores the extent to which the young person had moved from a position

of one dimensional images (idealization/devaluation) of the two cultures to a place of developing an integrated culturalidentity.

1. Uni-dimensional identification, e.g. ‘‘I simply hate all the behavior in Israel. There’s no respect, at all. For example, there(i.e. in FSU) if a teacher walks into the room, all the children would stand up and wait for the teacher to sit. Here, maybe10%, no in 5% of houses do they teach respect’’. (Yigor)

2. Un-integrated ambivalence: different, contrary views of Israel and FSU are expressed but without a feeling of integration.This may involve frequent comparisons of which is better or the need to justify existence in one or the other. The emphasisis on comparison but without the ability to integrate.

3. The start of a process of integration but externally, involving attempts to see both countries in a more integrated sense.There are good and bad elements in both countries. At this point there is no inner integration (i.e. the young person doesnot yet feel connected to parts of both cultures).

4. The start of inner integration and identification with elements of both countries. However, this may be conflictual as theyoung person has not yet managed to blend them into a cohesive, integrated identity.

5. A sense of internal integration where the emerging adult has integrated views of the two countries and feels an emotionalconnection to both. ‘‘At first, I said we were just coming for economic reasons, but then, I started to understand people, Istarted to love the country, feel warmth and with all the security issues, it brings people together. I think I’ve joined the‘people’. Not that there aren’t things I don’t like there are, but that’s the same in every place, Israel, Ukraine, things you likeand things you don’t’’. (Katya)

The Cohen’s k for this scale was .86.Psychological distress and symptomatic behavior was assessed using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI, Derogatis & Spencer,

1982), a self-administered questionnaire composed of 53 items on a five-point scale. This is a shortened version of the 90item Symptom Check List (Derogatis, 1977). It contains nine sub-scales relating to somatization, depression, anxiety,hostility, phobia, paranoia, psychoticism, interpersonal sensitivity and obsessiveness, as well as enabling an overall measure.In Canetti, Shalev, and Kaplan De-Nour (1994) study on Israeli adolescent norms of the BSI (translated into Hebrew), highlevels of internal consistency and good concurrent validity were found (internal GSI reliability = .95). The Russian version ofBSI was provided by Mirsky, Ginath, Perl, and Ritsner (1992) who used it in their study on pre-immigrant adolescents in theFSU. Throughout the study the overall BSI mean was used.

4.2.2. Time 2

A year after the interview, attempts were made to contact all the participants by telephone and to send them follow-upquestionnaires. Of the 68 who had participated in the initial interview, 61 were located. One male was known to have returnedto the FSU and six (three female, three male) were not traced (despite attempts to locate them through the universities and thecentral phone exchange). They may have left the country. Of the 61 located, there were 56 final participants (92% of thoselocated; 82% of the initial participants). Five did not return forms (three female and two male): Two refused to fill in thequestionnaires and three promised to return their questionnaires, on repeat phone calls, but the forms did not arrive. Therewere no obvious significant differences (e.g. age, time in Israel, with/without parents, level of mental health, immigrationdistress) between those who did and did not return forms. There was no financial incentive to return the forms and the highresponse rate is notable. It may suggest the personal commitment the interviewees felt to the subject of the research and theirwish to help other later immigrants, together with the high value Russian culture places on education. In addition to the BriefSymptom Inventory (Derogatis & Spencer, 1982) which was again sent, two further questionnaires were sent:

4.2.2.1. Questionnaire of emerging adult tasks (Shulman & Ben-Artzi, 2003). This is a self-administered questionnairecomposed of 20 items on a five-point scale. It asks the emerging adults to rate on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high) the extent towhich they feel they have achieved certain developmental tasks of emerging adulthood. The 20 items are divided into threeareas: independent decision making and taking responsibility (e.g. ‘‘the extent to which I feel I can make my own decisionsabout important issues in my life’’; ‘‘the extent to which I can stand behind my opinions when relating to other people’’),consolidation of an independent outlook on life including values and beliefs (e.g. ‘‘the extent to which I feel committed to myvalues’’, ‘‘the extent to which I am sure of what I want in my life’’), and practical/financial independence (e.g. ‘‘the extent towhich I am able to live separately from my parents’’; ‘‘the extent to which I can support myself financially’’). These are basedon Arnett’s (1998) criteria for the transition to adulthood (Cronbach’s a for the three tasks are .86, .80, and .65, respectively).

4.2.2.2. Stressful life events. The Stressful Life Events Inventory (Davis & Compas, 1986) was adapted for the present study (toinclude relevant immigration-related events, such as separation from environment and close friends and family andovercrowding in living space). The respondent is asked to indicate which of 17 major stressful life events they haveexperienced in the past 5 years. It also asks the extent to which, on a five-point scale, they experienced each event asstressful, influential and the degree to which they feel they have overcome and coped with each event.


Table 1

Correlations between demographic variables, symptom levels, immigration experience, achievement of emerging adult tasks and experienced difficulty and coping with life events

Age Time since

immigration

Alone/with

family

BSI t1 Immigration

distress

Cultural

ambivalence

Independent

decision

making

Consolidated

outlook

Practical

independence

BSI t2 Difficulty

of life

events

Coping

with life

events

Mean S.D.

Sex .10 .20 �.06 �.09 .36** �.11 .35** .25 .19 �.21 �.13 �.11 – –

Age .29* �.03 �.05 .21 �.12 .21 .22 .20 �.19 .22 .20 21.3 1.81

Time since immigration .22 .05 .04 .09 .02 .10 .04 �.02 �.15 �.19 2.75 1.35

Alone/with family .06 �.12 .19 �.20 �.07 .43*** .22 �.08 �.21 – –

BSI t1 �.23 �.20 �.51*** �.27* �.35** .59*** .15 .03 .81 .52

Immigration distress .27* .39** .37** .23 �.42** .22 .34* 2.55 1.25

Cultural ambivalence �.10 �.04 .00 .06 �.13 �.08 2.74 .88

Independent decision making .75*** .45** �.55*** .06 .17 4.17 .50

Consolidated outlook .17 �.40** .10 .18 4.00 .61

Practical independence �.30* .12 .19 4.19 .98

BSI t2 �.00 �.14 .85 .56

Difficulty of life events . 4.29 4.63

Coping with life events 4.25 4.14

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

S.W

alsh

eta

l./Intern

atio

na

lJo

urn

al

of

Intercu

ltura

lR

elatio

ns

32

(20

08

)3

71

–3

84

37

7

4.3. Plan of analysis

Study hypotheses examine the impact of internal processes on subsequent functioning. In line with the immigrationliterature, demographic variables such as gender, age of immigrant, time passed since immigration, immigrating by oneselfor with family may affect immigrants’ adjustment. In addition, individual psychological health may also affect laterfunctioning. Simple correlations between this list of demographic variables and immigration distress, and the otherdependent study variables were conducted and are presented in Table 1. As can be seen only sex, psychological health, andimmigrating by oneself or with family were associated with later outcomes and were controlled in the following analyses.

Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to predict the different measurements of functioning 1 year after theoriginal interviews. In step 1, sex, whether the emerging adult immigrated alone or with his/her family, and level ofpsychopathology at time 1 (BSI), were entered. In step 2, the two immigration experience scales (immigration distress andefforts to integrate cultural ambivalence) were entered. In the regressions examining the first hypothesis, the dependentvariables were measurements of experienced difficulty and coping with stressful life events, a follow-up measure ofpsychopathology (BSI t2). In examination of the second hypothesis, the three measurements of emerging adult tasks(independent decision making, consolidated outlook and practical independence) were the dependent variables.

In order to examine the possibility that initial level of pathology moderates the effects of the immigration distress andcultural ambivalence (as outlined in the third hypothesis) interactions between initial level of pathology and the twoimmigration experience scales were entered in a third step in an explorative manner.

The correlation between immigration distress and the level of pathology at time 1 was R = .23 (n.s.), indicating that thesevariables measure different constructs. Level of pathology at time 1 was not simply a measure of distress caused by theimmigration process. Acknowledging the small sample size and the fact that six regression analyses were conducted, theBonferroni correction was applied. As such, only findings significant at the level of p = .008 and lower were considered assignificant.

5. Results

5.1. Predicting psychological health, difficulty of stressful life events and level of coping (hypothesis 1)

As can be seen in Table 2, level of psychological symptoms at the second assessment was predicted by level of symptoms 1year earlier, b = .599, p = .000. None of immigration-related variables explained level of psychological health 1 year later.

As can be seen in Table 2, experienced difficulty of stressful life events was predicted by immigration distress, b = .511,p = .000, efforts to integrate cultural ambivalence, b = .393, p = .004, and initial level of psychopathology, b = .469, p = .001.Additionally a significant BSI � immigration distress interaction was found, b = .427, p = .003. We probed this interaction on

Table 2

Predictors of emerging adult immigrants’ symptomotology, experienced difficulties and level of coping with stressful life events following a period of 1 year

BSI time 2 Experienced difficulty of stressful

life events

Coping with stressful life events

B S.E. b B S.E. b B S.E. b

Step 1

Sex �.16 .13 �.14 �.92 1.35 �.10 �.87 1.18 �.10

Alone/with family .19 .13 .17 �.75 1.35 �.08 �1.72 1.19 �.20

BSI .61 .12 .59*** 1.28 1.25 .15 .29 1.09 .04

R2 change .38*** .02 .00

F change 8.86*** .72 1.00

Step 2

Sex �3.29 1.36 �.35 �2.91 1.19 �.35

Alone/with family .41 1.25 .04 �.64 1.09 �.08

BSI 2.33 1.15 .26 1.27 1.01 .16

Immigration distress 1.84 .60 .48*** �1.77 .49 �.55***

Cultural ambivalence �2.56 .97 �.35 �1.78 .85 �.30

R2 change .16*** .21***

F change 7.04*** 7.14***

Step 3

Sex �2.45 1.28 �.26 �2.06 1.09 �.26

Alone/with family .72 1.15 .08 �.33 .97 �.04

BSI 4.90 1.21 .46*** 3.05 1.02 �.39***

Immigration distress 1.92 .51 .51*** �1.84 .43 �.56***

Cultural ambivalence �2.77 .89 .39*** �1.99 .75 �.33***

BSI � immigration distress 1.91 .63 .42*** 1.94 .53 .49***

R2 change .16*** .16***

F 9.07*** 13.08***

***p < .008.


Aiken and West’s (1991) recommendations. Findings as presented in Fig. 1, suggest that immigration distress impacted levelof experienced difficulties only under the condition of high initial level of psychological symptoms. In addition, coping waspredicted by immigration distress, b = �.398, p = .004, efforts to integrate cultural ambivalence, b = �.330, p = .008, andinitial level of psychopathology, b = �.398, p = .004. Additionally a significant BSI � immigration distress interaction wasfound, b = .494, p = .000, suggesting that immigration distress impacted coping mainly under condition of high initial level ofpsychological symptoms (see Fig. 1).

Together, the greater the experienced immigration distress and the more the emerging adult attempted to resolve theinner crises related to his/her sense of cultural self, the greater the experienced difficulty of stressful life events and the lessable the emerging adult felt to cope with stressful life events. In contrast, immigration-related experiences did not affectlatter level of psychological symptoms. As such, hypothesis 1 was partially confirmed. However, efforts to integrate culturalambivalence affected perceived difficulties and level of coping 1 year later in the opposite direction. In contrast to ourhypothesis, the greater the efforts to integrate a cultural identity, the more difficulties the young person experienced incoping with stressful life events. Of note, the impact of immigration distress was found to be stronger under conditions ofhigher psychological symptoms at time 1 (confirming hypothesis 3).

5.2. Prediction of emerging adult developmental tasks (hypotheses 2 and 3)

As can be seen in Table 3, only the immigration distress � BSI interaction predicted level of independent decision making,b = .365, p = .005. Again, we probed this interaction on Aiken and West’s (1991) recommendations. Comparison of theimmigration distress and independent decision making associations under high and low conditions of initial level ofpsychological symptoms suggests that immigration distress affected the level of independent decision making only underconditions of higher initial psychological symptoms at time 1 (see Fig. 1).

None of the independent variables predicted level of consolidated outlook in the following year. Practical independencewas significantly associated with family status (alone/with family) b = �.386, p = .002. Immigrating alone predicted higherpractical independence 1 year later. No associations between indices of self and practical independence were found.

To summarize, contrary to hypothesis 2, experienced immigration distress and efforts to integrate cultural ambivalencefollowing immigration were not found to impact on the achievement of emerging adult tasks for all participants. However, inkeeping with hypothesis 3, for those who showed higher initial levels of psychological symptoms, the greater the degree ofexperienced immigration distress, the less able the emerging adult was to make independent decisions. In contrast, amongindividuals with initial low levels of psychological symptoms, immigration distress did not predict later decision making

Fig. 1. Correlations between immigration distress and functioning indices under conditions of high and low symptom levels. (a) Immigration distress and

independent decision making, (b) immigration distress and experienced difficulty of stressful life events, and (c) immigration distress and coping with

stressful life events. *p < .05; **p < .01.


ability. Finally, emerging adults who immigrated alone showed significantly more practical independence at the follow-upassessment.

6. Discussion

This study aimed to explore the relevance of the theoretical terms of immigration distress and efforts to integrate culturalambivalence following immigration, and the impact of these experiences on mental health status, coping and age-relateddevelopment over a short period of time. As described above, the interviews allowed a unique opportunity to hear youngimmigrants describe the feelings they had and were still experiencing. The narratives told by the interviewees confirmedliterature pointing to the inner distress which takes place due to the immigration process (Akhtar, 1999; Ben-David, 1996;Garza-Guerrero, 1974; Grinberg & Grinberg, 1989). The interviews showed that the young immigrants experienced distressin many domains. The interviewees described feelings such as shame, failure and a lack of competence; injury to their pride;feelings of being unwanted, different and not understood; internalized negative feelings of guilt and responsibility towardstheir parents; and feelings of instability and a lack of a sense of belonging. These themes, in part, parallel previously reportedthemes of damage to feelings of competence and sense of belonging found in narratives of young immigrants (Eleftheriadou,1997; Walsh & Horenczyk, 2001) and, as outlined above, were used to build the scale of immigration distress.

Previous literature, while exploring some elements of immigration-related distress, has not looked at how this distressimpacts on coping and functioning following immigration. This study set out to explore this issue through a follow-up studyand the picture which was found is complex.

The results show partial confirmation of our hypotheses. The greater the experienced immigration distress, the greaterthe experienced difficulty of stressful life events and the lower the level of coping. The study also hypothesized that thegreater the efforts to integrate cultural ambivalence following the immigration process, the higher the level of coping andadaptation following immigration, the lower the psychopathology. However, efforts to integrate cultural ambivalence werefound to be significantly correlated with the experienced difficulty and coping with stressful life events but in the directionopposite to that which was hypothesized. The greater the attempt to combine an integrated cultural identity, the greater theexperienced difficulty and the lower the levels of coping with stressful life events 1 year later.

Interestingly, immigration distress and efforts to integrate cultural ambivalence did not predict level of developmentaltasks 1 year later (hypothesis 2). However, in partial corroboration of hypothesis 3, the impact of immigration-relatedexperiences on subsequent functioning, coping with difficulties, and level of developmental tasks was more complex.

A significant interaction was found between immigration distress and initial psychological health. The impact ofimmigration distress on coping and external functioning was moderated by mental health status. For those emerging adultswho showed low initial levels of psychological symptoms, experienced immigration-related distress impacted less on theircoping and functioning. However, for those interviewees who displayed high early levels of symptoms, experienced

Table 3

Predictors of emerging adult immigrants’ attainment of developmental tasks following a period of 1 year

Independent decision making Practical independence

B S.E. b B S.E. b

Step 1

Sex 3.38 1.31 .30 .49 .57 .12

Alone/with family �1.49 1.31 �.13 �1.90 .57 �.38***

�5.06

BSI .33*** 1.21 �.49*** �1.30 .53 �.29

R2 change 7.28*** .24***

F change 5.06***

Step 2

Sex 2.46 1.28 .22

Alone/with family �1.04 1.36 �.09

BSI �4.64 1.25 �.44***

Immigration distress �.73 .61 �.16

Cultural ambivalence �.95 1.05 �.11

R2 change .00

F change .89

Step 3

Sex 3.33 1.41 .30

Alone/with family �.72 1.27 �.06

BSI �2.82 1.33 �.27

Immigration distress �.80 .56 �.18

Cultural ambivalence �1.17 .98 �.14

BSI � immigration distress 1.98 .69 .36***

R2 change .09 ***

F 8.10***

***p < .008.


immigration distress impacted significantly on the intensity of the experience of stressful life events, the ability to cope withthem, and the achievement of a higher level of independent decision making (a developmental task of emerging adulthood).

Of note, no significant correlation was found between level of initial psychopathology and immigration distress.Moreover, all of the participants expressed difficulties in dealing with the immigration stressors. Thus, experiencing innerdistress following immigration is probably normative and does not necessarily impact to such an extent on externalfunctioning. However, it impacts later functioning only among individuals with an initial lower mental health status. It maybe that individuals who show psychological health early on have the capability of also seeing the positive aspects of theimmigration. They may perceive the potential for growth and mastery (Adler, 1975; Aronowitz, 1984), or may succeed inframing their experience in a framework of ‘‘meaning making’’ (Barber, 2004). In contrast, young immigrants high onpsychopathology become more vulnerable to the impact of the unavoidable stress related with immigration and this affectstheir later functioning.

These results are reminiscent of literature on resilience (Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000; Rutter, 1990; Masten, Morison,Pellegrini, & Tellegen, 1990). The study of resilience which has focused mainly on children, has strived to identify protectivefactors which enable some children to go through stressful experiences, such as maltreatment (Cicchetti & Rogosch, 1997),parental mental illness (Masten & Coatsworth, 1998) and catastrophic life events (O’Dougherty-Wright, Masten, Northwood,& Hubbard, 1997) with little apparent psychological damage or disruption to their functioning while others may be deeplyaffected. It points to a dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity (Lutharet al., 2000). Research has highlighted attributes of the children themselves (such as autonomy or self-esteem), aspects oftheir families (such as support) and characteristics of their wider social environments (Masten & Garmezy, 1985; Werner &Smith, 1992) and has looked at how these factors may contribute to positive outcomes. Recent literature has started to lookat the applicability of the concept of resilience among immigrants (e.g. Aroian & Norris, 2000, in their study on the impact ofresilience on depression among Russian immigrants to Israel; Ehrensaft & Tousignant, 2006, in their look at refugees andresilience). This study suggests that among certain emerging adults there is a form of resilience, connected to initial or earlypsychological health. Initial psychological health appears to serve as a ‘‘buffer’’ between the inner impact of the immigrationexperience and external functioning.

This study was conducted on emerging adults. A significant characteristic of emerging adulthood has been the wide rangeof developmental trajectories (Cohen, Kasen, Chen, Hartmark, & Gordon, 2003) which these young people display. This studyshows that in the immigration experience, these young people also show differing responses. For emerging adults who areinitially more vulnerable, the immigration-related inner distress leads to consequent damage to their ability to function andmake decisions independently, which is an important age-related task (Arnett, 2000; Shulman & Ben-Artzi, 2003). Incontrast, less vulnerable young people, despite the immigration hardships, are more capable of incorporating internalreorganization within the age-related normative process they are at any rate experiencing.

Much of the literature on immigration has pointed to the negative implications of immigration on differing age groups.This study could suggest that psychological health scan enable emerging adults to go through the process of immigrationwith limited negative impact. Emerging adulthood is an ‘‘in-between’’ age (Arnett, 2000). These young people have reachedan age of relative psychological maturity where they are searching for challenge and exploration (Bradley & Wildman, 2002),and yet have neither children dependent on them, nor fixed and inflexible careers and worldviews which are difficult totranslate and adapt. Their adaptability and flexibility would seem to be a potential benefit. This adaptability and flexibilitymay explain why there was no impact of the immigration experience on later mental health status. In addition, research onadolescents from the FSU in Israel (Birman & Taylor-Ritzler, 2007) has emphasized the pivotal role of family relationships asmediating distress following immigration. In our research, we did not find significant differences between those youngpeople who immigrated with or without parents (except in practical independence) suggesting that by emerging adulthood,parental relationships may play a less essential role in adaptation following immigration. Yet, future studies are required tosubstantiate this speculation.

One interesting additional point was that practical independence (the ability to financially and practically take care ofoneself) or consolidated outlook were not found to be affected by the inner experiences and processes. In terms of practicalindependence, it would seem that immigration demands some level of ‘‘survival’’. Moreover, those young people whoimmigrated by themselves were more likely to report a higher level of practical independence 1 year later. They found theinner strengths to look after themselves in an elementary way. It may be that this ability to ‘‘survive’’ is connected both to themarkers of the transition to adulthood, namely becoming increasing independent and the particular social context of theirimmigration (e.g. coming from the FSU, the fact they had chosen to immigrate and study, and coming without close family,etc.). In terms of consolidated outlook, it may be that this is a process that occurs at a later stage. We also speculate that theneed to incorporate the old and new cultural aspects in one’s outlook on life requires a longer period of time to beaccomplished.

The primacy of ‘‘survival’’ was indicated when assessing the way that coping with cultural ambivalence impacted onsubsequent functioning. The results showed that while the ability to feel an inner integrated sense of identification with bothIsraeli and Russian culture did not impact on the achievement of developmentally appropriate tasks of emerging adulthood,it did impact on the experience of, and coping with, stressful life events. This was contrary to expectations that the more theyoung person tended to integrate a cultural identity, the better his/her adaptation would be and to theories of acculturation(e.g. Berry, 1997; Sam, 2006) that claim that a strategy of integration is related to higher physical and mental health. Theresults suggested that struggling with ‘‘meaning making’’ (Fiese & Sameroff, 1999, p. 4) of the immigration process was not


associated with better functioning. It can be speculated that while integrating cultural ambivalence is adaptive in the longterm, results of the study suggest that in the short term the young immigrant is probably in need of defenses against the selfbecoming overwhelmed by the immigration process. It is possible that before reorganization can be achieved, the immigrantis stuck between the conflicting models resulting from leaving one’s home and settling into a new culture. Only aftermourning the losses and learning the new reality, an integrated and coherent story can emerge (Pianta, Marvin, Britner, &Borowitz, 1996). Precocious attempts to form a complex cultural identity seem to have negative effects in the short term.These results are in keeping with previous acculturation literature (e.g. Berry & Kim, 1988) which shows early assimilation asbeing correlated with lower mental health. It is important to note that the mean time of stay in the new country among theinterviewees of the current study was 2.75 years. This can suggest that the time required for an adaptive integration of theold and the new culture is longer. Birman and Trickett (2001) found that immigrant children from the FSU in the US tendedover time to a more assimilationist identity, which they explained partly due to the fact that their ‘‘whiteness’’ allowed easyintegration. It would be interesting to explore whether the same pattern would be found in Israel and whether, over time, anassimilationist tendency would actually lead to more favorable outcomes.

This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the internal experience of immigration for emerging adults. It alsohas practical implications. On a therapeutic level, the results of this study help to inform counselors and therapists workingwith this population as to what young immigrants may be experiencing. The narratives highlighted various forms ofimmigration-related distress (feelings of shame, failure and a lack of competence; of injury to their sense of pride and self-respect; feeling unwanted, different or not-understood; a lack of stability and feeling of belonging; and internalized negativefeelings, such as guilt, due to the experience their parents were going through). The study suggests that such feelings arenormative and, in a healthy immigrant, need not lead to functioning difficulties. The results also emphasize the need forrespecting the role of the inner crises that the emerging adult may display. It would appear that the young person canintegrate the conflictive views of the two cultures only when they have achieved some level of psychological adaptation.

Although the results of this study contribute to our understanding of the immigrant emerging adult and the impact ofimmigration on this developmental period, it is important to note several caveats that underscore the need for additionalresearch. The first limitation pertains to the fact that these results are based on only one source of information, the emergingadult. Future research, including the perspective of family, friends or partners could enrich our understanding of the processthese young people are going through. On the positive side, it is important to remember that results of this study are based onin-depth interviews with a follow-up a year later that provided young immigrants with an avenue of telling their story ofimmigration. The research involves a 1-year follow-up framework. Immigration is a long process which takes many years,during which internal processes may well change and develop. Our results must, therefore, be considered within thelimitations of time. Obviously continuing to follow these young people over the next few years could be very fruitful. Ourstudy examined early levels of psychological symptoms as a rough estimate of initial psychological health. Only examiningpsychological health before the decision to emigrate would really give us an accurate measure of initial psychological health.However, very little immigration research succeeds if at all in measuring immigrants before the decision to move and, assuch, our measure of early psychological health, while statistically distinct from the immigration distress variable haslimitations.

An additional limitation pertains to the sample. The current study was conducted on a sample of FSU immigrant emergingadults in Israel. As outlined by Kwak (2003), the cultural distance between the culture of origin and that of the new society is animportant factor in the process of acculturation. Aroian et al. (2003) point to the similarity between Russian Jewish and Israeliculture which both integrate family values with Western societal values and the relatively small cultural gap (in comparison toresearch on other immigrant groups) while others (e.g. Birman & Taylor-Ritzler, 2007; Birman & Trickett, 2001; Birman et al.,2005) emphasize particularly the special nature of Russian family structure (as emphasizing parental authority andinterdependence). All immigration research examines particular groups in a particular social and historical context and thusthere are difficulties of generalization. In this sense, it is reasonable to ask whether findings will be similar under conditions ofgreater distance between the previous and new cultures. Studies in the area of immigration always demand repetition in variedcultures and it will be important to explore not only other immigrant groups who experience relatively small cultural moves butalso those for whom the cultural distance is far greater (both in Israel and around the world).

The interviews were conducted in Hebrew, which was not the mother tongue of the interviewees. Despite the fact that theinterviewees spoke very impressive levels of Hebrew (they were also studying in Hebrew), in part due to the fact that theyhad already completed at least 1 year of very intensive language learning as part of the program they were on, it must be bornin mind that they may have felt more comfortable or open in their mother tongue. Finally, elements of this study wereexploratory and have opened new avenues of research, such as understanding why certain young people show greaterresilience following the immigration experience and these areas require continued research. An understanding of how it isthat many young people can go through the immigration process with either minimal negative impact on their age-relatedadaptation and functioning or even be strengthened by the experience is essential for understanding as researchers andclinicians.

7. Conclusion

Our study suggests that the internal experience and process (as shown through levels of distress and attempts tointegrate a cultural identity) that emerging adults are going through following immigration impacts on their ability to cope


with life events and to achieve some developmental age appropriate tasks, mainly in the case of those with early poorermental health. The results point both to the resilience of many emerging adult immigrants for whom psychological healthbuffers the immigration experience and allows them to continue to function and develop despite the difficulties and also tothe vulnerability of those with early lower mental health status. The results have implications on both a clinical and sociallevel and emphasize the importance of longitudinal research which includes the examination of internal processes inaddition to external functioning.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Sidney Blatt for his insightful contributions and comments, the participants of this study fortheir participation and willingness to share their experiences and the Hadassah International Research Institute at BrandeisUniversity for the grant awarded for this project.

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