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Academic Achievement Among Recently Arrived Chinese Adolescent Migrants: The Role of Social Support, School Belonging, and Acculturative Stress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2016

Ngai Kwan Nicole Ho ,
Robert D. Schweitzer Open the ORCID record for Robert D. Schweitzer [Opens in a new window]  and
Nigar G. Khawaja
Ngai Kwan Nicole Ho
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Robert D. Schweitzer*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Nigar G. Khawaja
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Robert Schweitzer, PhD, School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove QLD 4059, Australia. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Factors contributing to academic achievement among recently arrived Chinese adolescents in Australia remain relatively underexplored. Previous studies focused on Asian migrants, including Chinese, but did not distinguish Chinese from other Asian migrants. The current study specifically looks at Chinese migrants who have recently arrived, as opposed to Asian migrants. This study aims to explore the role of social support, school belonging, and acculturative stress on academic achievement of recently arrived Chinese adolescents (n = 55). Questionnaires were administered to this sample. The results indicated that school belonging, interestingly, was negatively associated with academic achievement. Perceived social support and acculturative stress were not significantly associated with academic achievement. The findings provide insights into risk and protective factors influencing academic achievement of Chinese migrants. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Keywords

academic achievementChinese migrantssocial supportschool belongingacculturative stress
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , June 2017 , pp. 24 - 36
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

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