Longitudinal Associations between Relational Support and Power, Acculturation, and School Performance among Moroccan-Dutch Adolescents

Close relationships, such as parents and peers, can help ethnic minority youth navigate developmental as well as acculturative challenges. This longitudinal study investigated bidirectional paths between mainstream acculturation orientation and school performance of Moroccan-Dutch adolescents, and how they link to perceived support and power by their parents and best friend. As demonstrated in previous research, we expected that apart from parents, the best friend would facilitate school adjustment when adolescents perceive high relational support and low power distance. In addition, in line with the acculturation framework of Arends-Tóth and Van de Vijver (2006), we hypothesized that Dutch acculturation orientation would positively predict school performance.

Analyses were based on 111 Moroccan-Dutch adolescents (M_age= 15.26 at Wave 1; 57% female) who were surveyed over three waves. Cross-lagged panel modeling (CLPM) revealed that, in line with the hypotheses, high power distance with parents and best friend negatively predicted minority school adjustment over time. However, contrary to the hypothesized causal direction, minority school performance positively predicted support from their parents and best friend, and also Dutch acculturation.

Our results suggest that being well adjusted in school may facilitate a mainstream culture orientation rather than the other way round. Furthermore, the links between relational qualities (high support, low power) and school adjustment are similar across relational contexts (parents, best friend). In conclusion, our results challenge common assumptions of causality in previous acculturation studies and highlight the importance of longitudinal research to understand processes at the intersection of acculturation and development.