In the first phase of this follow-up study we investigated how the use of more than one language affects mental wellbeing and school achievement among 320 school-aged Finnish-Swedish re-migrant children. Now, in the second phase, we screened the same series of children 6 years after migration for psychiatric and psychosomatic symptoms. Out of five groups distinguished in terms of patterns of language use, two had fared well and three showed evident vulnerability. Both successful groups were marked by consistent use of the two languages, Finnish and Swedish, whereas the risk groups were characterised by mixed use of languages before re-migration or substantial language shift after re-migration.

Migration Child development language Depression school Adolescence

depression Finland Follow-Up Studies psychosomatics mental health human wellbeing linguistics controlled study Child Behavior Disorders language achievement academic achievement school child Humans Adolescent male environmental factor female cultural factor school child psychiatry Article Adolescent Behavior Questionnaires migration Emigration and Immigration Child Development Somatoform Disorders Multilingualism Culture Child