Understanding the role of social support in trajectories of mental health symptoms for immigrant adolescents

•Internalizing problems for immigrant youth decreases during the high school years.•Acculturative stress predicts withdrawn, somatic, and anxious/depressed symptoms.•Social support moderates acculturative stress effects on anxious-depressed symptoms.•Gender and generation status differences were found only at baseline (10th grade).

This longitudinal study of 286, urban residing, first- and second-generation immigrant adolescents examined the degree to which acculturative stress is related to the developmental trajectories of mental health problems and the role of social support in this process. Participants were recruited when they entered 10th grade and two additional waves of data were gathered at 12-month intervals. Using individual growth curve modeling, the results show significant decline in internalizing mental health problems during the high school years. At the same time, greater exposure to acculturative stress predicted significantly more withdrawn/depressed, somatic, and anxious/depressed symptoms. Additionally, social support moderated the relation between acculturative stress and anxious/depressed symptoms. Gender and generation status differences were found only at baseline (10th grade).