Perceived Discrimination and Symptoms of Internalization in Migrant Adolescents: A Systematic Review
Perceived Discrimination and Symptoms of Internalization in Migrant Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Summary/Abstract: This study aims to systematically review research examining the relationship between perceived discrimination and internalization symptoms in immigrant adolescents. A systematic search was conducted in the Google Scholar and PubMed databases; studies published between January 1993 and May 2025 were evaluated. The search strategy used the keywords "immigrant adolescents," "migrant youth," "refugee adolescents," "perceived discrimination," and "internalizing symptoms" together with Boolean operators. The search yielded 198 studies; after removing 37 duplicate studies, the titles and abstracts of the remaining 161 studies were reviewed, and 64 articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded. Of the 97 studies whose full text was reviewed, 69 were excluded for various reasons, and 28 studies were included in the analysis. The studies reviewed were conducted in countries such as the US, Canada, Europe, Türkiye and Australia. The findings revealed that perceived discrimination showed a meaningful and strong relationship with internalizing psychopathologies such as depression, anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Mediating variables such as self-esteem, family cohesion, cognitive appraisal of discrimination, and socioeconomic status, as well as moderating variables such as ethnic identity, acculturation, family support, traditional family values, age, and transcultural identity, were found to play an important role in this relationship. These findings indicate that experiences of discrimination are a serious risk factor for the mental health of immigrant adolescents and should be taken into account in the development of preventive mental health policies.

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