At-risk behaviour in immigrant and non immigrant young adolescents: Immigrant paradox?

Background for the study The number of immigrants in Italy has been constantly increasing during recent years: on 1st January 2008 the number of immigrants in Italy was 3,432,651; compared to the previous year, the number of immigrants in- creased by 493,729 (+16.8%). The proportion of immigrants increased from 2.7% at the end of 2002, to 5.8% at the beginning of 2008 (ISTAT, 2008). The increase in the number of immigrant youth is consistent with the increasing number of immigrant population. As of the 1st January 2008, the number of underage youth was about 767,000, accounting for 22.3% of the immigrant population in Italy. Most of them, about 457,000, were born in Italy (about 64,000 during 2007; +10.9% compared to the previous year) and are second generation immigrants. The remainders were immigrant youth who arrived in Italy for the re-unification of the family, as their parents arrived in Italy earlier. Recently, approaches to adolescent development (for example: Schwartz et al., 2007) underlined the importance of testing the applicability of models of risk factors, protective factors and assets for adolescents from diverse eth- nic and cultural backgrounds. This research question is particularly relevant in Italy because of the growing level of immigration and the growing birth rate of children from immigrant families (Lo Coco, 2000; ISTAT, 2008; Caritas/ Migrantes, 2008). In this case study we focused on analysing risk behaviours of immigrant youth in particular as regard to tobacco use. Findings from previous studies about risk behaviour of immigrant youth are inconsistent. Some studies indicated that immigrant youth reported higher risk for problem behaviours than non immigrants (e.g. Bengi-Arslan, Verhulst, & van der Ende, 1997; Pawliuk et al., 1996). Recently, other studies conducted mainly in North America showed that immigrant youth reported better adaptation and less problem behaviours than their national peers, in spite of the fact that they lived under challenging conditions and higher socioeconomic risk. This phenomenon was called ‘‘im- migrant paradox’’ (e.g. Fuligni, 1998; García Coll, 2005).