The Effects of Acculturative Stress on Depression in Adolescents from Multicultural Families: The Moderated Mediating Effect of Ethnic Identity Through Body Dissatisfaction

This study examined the mediated moderating effect of ethnic identity through associated body dissatisfaction on the relationship between acculturative stress and depression. Data from the sixth year of the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Survey conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute were used for analysis. The participants were 424 multicultural adolescents (218 boys, 206 girls; mean age = 14.99 years, SD = 0.33). Data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics 27 and PROCESS Macro 4.2, AMOS22. The results showed that body dissatisfaction partially mediated the relationship between acculturative stress and depression. Further, ethnic identity significantly moderated the relationship between acculturative stress and bodily dissatisfaction. Finally, the moderated mediating effect of ethnic identity on depression, through the effect of acculturative stress on body dissatisfaction, was significant. These results suggest that efforts to improve ethnic identity are needed to prevent depression in multicultural adolescents.