Perceived discrimination and psychological adjustment among Russian-speaking immigrant adolescents in Finland

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived dis crimination and psychological adjustment among immigrant adolescents. The s ubjects were 170 Russian-speaking adolescents, all born in the former Sovie t Union, aged between 12 and 19 years, who immigrated to Finland between 19 87 and 1996. According to the results, self-esteem served as ii major media tor between perceived discrimination and psychological adjustment. The adol escents' experiences of parental support influenced their perceptions of di scrimination and enhanced their self-esteem, especially among the boys. Adh erence to traditional values increased experiences of parental support, and also directly enhanced psychological adjustment. In addition, experiences of paternal support were found to be the most important for the boys, where as experiences of maternal support were important for the girls.