Immigrant children
Immigrant children generally experience the “healthy immigrant effect,” although to a lesser extent than immigrant adults. This means they arrive in Canada healthier than their Canadian-born peers (Vang, Sigouin, Flenon, & Gagnon, 2017).
Immigrant children tend to have similar or lower rates of mental disorders and lower rates of substance use than native-born children, despite generally living in greater levels of poverty and economic stress (Gadermann, et al., 2022) (Kwak & Rudmin, 2014) (Kwak, 2016) (Hamilton, van der Maas, Boak, & Mann, 2013). It is important to keep in mind that there can be significant variation between immigrant children, however, as many factors can influence their mental health.
Large-scale community surveys show that the rates of psychiatric disorders among immigrant youth are not higher than those of Canadian-born children (Kirmayer et al., 2011). Family cohesion, different parenting strategies, higher parental expectations and greater supervision and monitoring of youth may contribute to these findings. Nevertheless, immigrant children's mental health can be affected by similar factors to those that affect children in general (Beiser, 2010).
For example:
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Boys are more likely than girls and younger children more likely than older children to display behavioural problems (Beiser et al., 2002; Beiser, 2010).
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As is the case for children in general, maternal depression increases the likelihood of immigrant children experiencing emotional problems (Beiser, 2010).
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Substance use rates are statistically lower among immigrant youth than their Canadian-born peers (Hamilton, van der Maas, Boak, & Mann, 2013).
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The risk of developing a substance use disorder appears to increase with time spent in Canada and with level of acculturation (Korczak, 2015).
Substance use as coping mechanisms for stressors
With Stacey DeSouza (Addiction Counsellor and Case Worker, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health)
There are youth out there that do use, it's a natural part of experimenting: Being an adolescent, you're naturally curious. Because we see youth with concurrent disorders, for a lot of our youth who continue to use and it becomes more than a recreational pattern or habit, often what we see here is they tend to be using as a way of dealing with stressors in their lives. And we often talk about that: We all experience stressors and we all have various ways of coping with those stressors. And often what happens if you're using at an earlier age, that's their way of coping then they don't often learn other skill sets to deal with stressors as they mature through the stages of being an adolescent into young adulthood. And they often use as a way of falling back to deal with those stressors. Those stressors can be anything from boredom to family conflict or relationship conflicts. It can be with symptoms that they're having because they may have an undiagnosed mental health issue so they're experiencing anxiety or experiencing depression and use as a way to get some immediate gratification: They feel better in the short term. But what we know is that the longer they use, the more likely they are to bump into negative consequences. And that's where the use can become really problematic because it can have a larger impact in their lives.
Immigrant youth may feel overwhelmed when trying to fit in with a new culture while maintaining components of their own ethnic background. As youth acculturate, they may come into conflict with parents and relatives who hold ideals and values that differ from their own. Children, as well as their parents, who participate in both Canadian and home-country cultural practices and traditions, tend to do better than those who have a weaker ethnic identity or who have completely assimilated (Costigan et al., 2010).