Identity-based victimization and identity coherence among minoritized adolescents in the Netherlands: The role of ethnic identity, school belonging, and family emotional support.
- 1Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
- 2Verwey-Jonker Institute, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
- 3Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Abstract
This cross-sectional study examined how identity-based victimization was associated with adolescents' sense of identity coherence in the Dutch sociocultural context. Guided by an integrated Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST) and resilience-informed framework, we examined whether perceived discrimination and hate crime victimization were directly associated with identity coherence, whether these associations were indirect through ethnic identity achievement and school belonging, and whether family emotional support moderated the direct associations. Using data from 1032 adolescents with a migration background (ages 13-18; 52.8% female) from the Dutch fourth wave of the International Self-Report Delinquency study, we estimated an observed-variable path model within the SEM framework. Neither perceived discrimination nor hate crime victimization was directly associated with identity coherence. Instead, two distinct indirect patterns emerged, running in opposite directions. Perceived discrimination was indirectly associated with higher identity coherence through higher ethnic identity achievement. Hate crime victimization was indirectly associated with lower identity coherence through lower school belonging, which showed the strongest positive association with identity coherence. Family emotional support did not moderate the direct associations between identity-based victimization and identity coherence. Although the cross-sectional design precludes conclusions about temporal ordering or causal processes, the results indicate that different forms of identity-based victimization relate to adolescents' identity coherence through different proximal resources. These findings contribute to a limited European evidence base on identity-based victimization and identity coherence among minoritized adolescents.
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BibTeX
@article{day2026identitybased,
title = {{Identity-based victimization and identity coherence among minoritized adolescents in the Netherlands: The role of ethnic identity, school belonging, and family emotional support.}},
author = {Mehmet Day and Renske S van der Gaag and Amaranta de Haan and Dominique Burggraaff and Majone Steketee},
journal = {Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1111/jora.70300},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42968427},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Identity-based victimization and identity coherence among minoritized adolescents in the Netherlands: The role of ethnic identity, school belonging, and family emotional support.
AU - Mehmet Day
AU - Renske S van der Gaag
AU - Amaranta de Haan
AU - Dominique Burggraaff
AU - Majone Steketee
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/01
JO - Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence
DO - 10.1111/jora.70300
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42968427
AB - This cross-sectional study examined how identity-based victimization was associated with adolescents' sense of identity coherence in the Dutch sociocultural context. Guided by an integrated Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST) and resilience-informed framework, we examined whether perceived discrimination and hate crime victimization were directly associated with identity coherence, whether these associations were indirect through ethnic identity achievement and school belonging, and whether family emotional support moderated the direct associations. Using data from 1032 adolescents with a migration background (ages 13-18; 52.8% female) from the Dutch fourth wave of the International Self-Report Delinquency study, we estimated an observed-variable path model within the SEM framework. Neither perceived discrimination nor hate crime victimization was directly associated with identity coherence. Instead, two distinct indirect patterns emerged, running in opposite directions. Perceived discrimination was indirectly associated with higher identity coherence through higher ethnic identity achievement. Hate crime victimization was indirectly associated with lower identity coherence through lower school belonging, which showed the strongest positive association with identity coherence. Family emotional support did not moderate the direct associations between identity-based victimization and identity coherence. Although the cross-sectional design precludes conclusions about temporal ordering or causal processes, the results indicate that different forms of identity-based victimization relate to adolescents' identity coherence through different proximal resources. These findings contribute to a limited European evidence base on identity-based victimization and identity coherence among minoritized adolescents.
SN - 1050-8392
SN - 1532-7795
ER -