Psychological adjustment of ethnically victimized adolescents: Do teachers’ responses to ethnic victimization incidents matter?

Abstract

The present study examined how teachers respond to ethnic-victimization, and whether teachers’ responses buffer the effect of such aversive encounters on immigrant youth’s psychological adjustment. The sample included youth of immigrant background residing in Sweden (N = 423; Mage = 13.19, SD = .51; 44% girls), and their head class teachers. Cluster analysis revealed three subgroups of teachers based on their responses to ethnic victimization: (1) high in enlisting parents; (2) high in initiating discussions with other teachers; (3) high in multiple forms of strategies (i.e., authority-based interventions, comforting and supporting the victim, contacting parents, and initiating discussions with other teachers). The effects of ethnic victimization on youth’s depressive symptoms and self-esteem were significantly lower when teachers used multiple forms of strategies than when teachers used collaborative actions or enlisted parents. The findings highlight the importance of approaching ethnic victimization as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, thereby accessing multiple actors so as better to combat aversive effects on the victim.