Self-concept and anxiety in immigrant children

In a longitudinal study of acculturation in Germany, a total sample (N = 364) of immigrant and nonimmigrant elementary schoolchildren were tested in regard to achievement related personality variables, such as self-concept, anxiety, and peer relations. The participants belonged to one of four subgroups: (1) nonimmigrants from the Western region of Germany; (2) nonimmigrants from the Eastern region; (3) German-speaking immigrants from the former German Democratic Republic; and (4) immigrants with poor German language skills from the former USSR. Migration did not seem to lead to a global decrease of self-concept or to an increase of general anxiety. However, the immigrant children did differ in their self-concept in the German language and in test anxiety from the nonimmigrant children. The chosen parameters proved to be fairly stable over time in the German-speaking groups and in the immigrant group with poor German language skills, the self-concept was more stable with a longer stay in Germany. Overall, comparing the immigrants with the nonimmigrants: (a) an acceleration in the development of self-evaluations; and (b) an interruption in the gradual stabilisation of the personality became apparent.