Doctoral defence of Eyrún María Rúnarsdóttir

Eyrún María Rúnarsdóttir Doctoral Defence At University of Iceland

Ethnicity, immigration and adolescent well-being in the context of sociodemographic background and social support

Opponents are Dr.. Álfgeir L. Kristjánsson, Associate Professor at West Virginia University,  and Dr. Peter F. Titzmann, Professor at Leibniz University.

Supervisors: Dr. Rúnar Vilhjálmsson, Professor at University of Iceland, and co-supervisor Dr. Ólöf Garðarsdóttir, Professor at University of Iceland.

Other in the doctoral committee  Dr. Sigrún Aðalbjarnardóttir and Dr. Robert Crosnoe

Dr. Atli Harðarson, Chair of the Doctoral Board, conducts the ceremony    

The aim of the study was to investigate 1) how social support and sociodemographic background both at the individual level and neighborhood levels related to well-being of adolescents of different ethnic backgrounds in Iceland, and 2) how foreign-origin adolescents perceived social support from friends by two friendship networks; native friends and foreign-origin friends. Quantitative datasets used in the study come from the Icelandic population-based study Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) and a data collection that was designed for this study. Findings revealed that youth of Polish and Asian origin were on average at a disadvantage compared to native youth, in terms of family affluence, the likelihood of belonging to non-intact families, and having non-employed parents. Furthermore, they perceived less social support from family, friends, and classmates compared to native youth. These disadvantages were associated with adolescents’ well-being. Neighborhood (school area) family affluence corresponded to more well-being in general, but foreign-origin adolescents were less likely to benefit from higher level neighborhood affluence compared to native adolescents. Furthermore, the perceived social support from friends differed by the origin of friends as foreign-origin adolescents perceived more social support from other foreign-origin friends than native friends. In conclusion, the findings underscore the importance of improving the social and economic status of immigrant families. It is also of importance to increase resources and access to supportive systems for foreign-origin youth.