Perceived discrimination and psychological adjustment among Russian-speaking immigrant adolescents in Finland

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological adjustment among immigrant adolescents. The subjects were 170 Russian-speaking adolescents, all born in the former Soviet Union, aged between 12 and 19 years, who immigrated to Finland between 1987 and 1996. According to the results, self-esteem served as ii major mediator between perceived discrimination and psychological adjustment. The adolescents' experiences of parental support influenced their perceptions of discrimination and enhanced their self-esteem, especially among the boys. Adherence to traditional values increased experiences of parental support, and also directly enhanced psychological adjustment. In addition, experiences of paternal support were found to be the most important for the boys, whereas experiences of maternal support were important for the girls.