# Adolescent Friendship Networks: Effects on Immigrant Youth’s Psychosocial Health

> **NIH NIH K99** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · 2024 · $134,938

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
 The proposed research will assess the impact adolescent friendship networks have on the psychosocial
health of immigrant youth (i.e., the 1st and 2nd generation). Immigrant youth are a vulnerable population, with
disproportionately high prevalence of adverse psychosocial health outcomes, including higher rates of mental
health disorders, and lower sense of belonging, self-esteem, and wellbeing. Adolescence is a critical
developmental stage, marked by the ascension in the complexity and importance of peer friendships. Although
immigrant youth’s friendship networks look different from non-immigrant youth’s networks in a variety of ways,
very little research have examined whether and how these friendship patterns and processes may explain the
immigrant-based disparities in psychosocial health. This proposed research will bring more contemporary data
to the forefront of research on immigrant youth’s school friendships, generate new and rare data on immigrant
youth’s non-school friendships, and use advanced social network analytical methods to provide a more
comprehensive examination of the impacts adolescent friendship networks have on the psychosocial health of
immigrant youth. During the K99 phase, Dr. Khuu will focus on friendships developed in school, a major peer
context shared by both immigrant and nonimmigrant youth. AIM 1 is to identify and understand differences in
friendship patterns and processes between immigrant and nonimmigrant youth. AIM 2 is to compare measures
of psychosocial health between these two groups and test whether differential friendship patterns and
processes explain differences in psychosocial health. During the R00 phase, Dr. Khuu will leverage her training
in survey design and network sampling methods as well as in adolescent development and psychosocial
health to lead a new data collection effort on immigrant youth’s friendship networks extending beyond school.
AIM 3 is to understand how the social contexts of friendships shape friendship patterns and composition. AIM 4
is to test the relationship between immigrant youth’s psychosocial health and these friendship measures. As a
sub aim, Dr. Khuu will also take the opportunity to examine heterogeneity among immigrant youth, focusing
particularly on the distinctions between refugee and non-refugee youth. Dr. Khuu’s career goal is to become a
leading research authority on the friendships, health, and critical life outcomes of immigrant youth. The training
and findings of the proposed research will position her favorably to pursue an R01 grant, enabling her to
propose a more expansive, longitudinal study that explores the social integration and health of immigrant
youth, with a specific focus on refugee youth, who have resettled in a diversity of new immigrant destinations in
the United States.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10865570
- **Project number:** 1K99HD114887-01
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE
- **Principal Investigator:** Thoa Khuu
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $134,938
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-17 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10865570

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10865570, Adolescent Friendship Networks: Effects on Immigrant Youth’s Psychosocial Health (1K99HD114887-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10865570. Licensed CC0.

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