Foreign-born youth reported significantly more internalizing problems & fewer externalizing problems than US-born youth

The Immigrant Paradox in the Problem Behaviors of Youth in the United States: A Meta‐analysis. Jacqueline L. Tilley  Stanley J. Huey Jr.  JoAnn M. Farver  Mark H.C. Lai  Crystal X. Wang. Child Development, February 2 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13542

Abstract: This meta‐analysis synthesizes the empirical data on problem behaviors among foreign‐ (G1) and U.S‐born (G2+) youth and explores the effects of immigrant status on youth internalizing and externalizing problems. A random effects meta‐regression with robust variance estimates summarized effect sizes for internalizing and externalizing problems across 91 studies (N = 179,315, Mage = 13.98). Results indicated that G1 youth reported significantly more internalizing problems (g = .06), and fewer externalizing problems than G2+ youth (g = −.06). Gender and sample type moderated the effects. The findings provide a first‐step toward reconciling mixed support for the immigrant paradox by identifying for whom and under what conditions the immigrant experience serves as a risk or protective factor for youth.