half of all students from 49 of the 100 largest school districts are black, Hispanic, or Asian.

This chapter focuses on immigrant and ethnic differences in social-psychological well-being and educational achievement of adolescent youth. The focus is on the following questions: How do immigrant (first-generation) children and native-born children of immigrants (second-generation children) differ from native-born (third-generation and beyond) whites of native-born parents in their psychological well-being? Second, to what extent can generational differences in psychological well-being be attributed to difficulty with English, prior educational experiences, and enrollment in specialized programs? Third, how are generational differences in psychological well-being associated with educational performance?

This chapter is organized as follows. First, I review previous research that implies three social-psychological dimensions on which immigrant children may differ from native-born children. I then review racial, ethnic, and generational patterns of educational achievement and explore why there is an apparent anomaly as immigrant children may have lower self-perceptions yet still manage to do well in school, despite the well-documented link between mental health and educational performance among adolescents (Covington, 1984; March, 1986; Rosenberg, 1989; Rosenberg et al., 1989). Then I describe the data, from the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) of 1988, used for the analyses. Next, descriptive and empirical analyses are explained, focusing on the relationship between immigrant status and psychological well-being, as well as the link between psychological well-being and educational performance.

While historic and ethnographic research on the adaptation processes of immigrant adults clearly documents the immense stress and burden on self-esteem that accompanies settlement in a foreign locale, it is less clear whether children suffer compa-

Front Matter (R1-R12)

1 Children of Immigrants: Health, Adjustment, and Public Assistance (1-18)

2 Socioeconomic and Demographic Risk Factors and Resources Among Children in Immigrant and Native-Born Families: 1910, 1960, and 1990 (19-125)

3 Access to Health Insurace and Health Care for Children in Immigrant Families (126-186)

The Health and Nutritional Status of Immigrant Hispanic Children: Analyses of the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (187-243)

5 Immigration and Infant Health: Birth Outcomes of Immigrant and Native-Born Women (244-285)

6 The Health Status and Risk Behaviors of Adolescents in Immigrant Families (286-347)

7 Educational Profile of 3- to 8-Year-Old Children and Immigrants (348-409)

8 Psychological Well-Being and Educational Achievement Among Immigrant Youth (410-477)

9 Passages to Adulthood: The Adaptation on Children of Immigrants in Southern California (478-545)

10 Receipt of Public Assistance by Mexican American and Cuban American Children in Native and Immigrant Families (546-583)

11 Receipt of Public Assistance by Immigrant Children and Their Families: Evidence from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (584-619)

12 Children in Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Farmworker Families: Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (620-658)

Other Reports from the Board on Children, Youth, and Families (659-660)