Acculturation and health seeking behaviors in migrant adolescents: sample of Syrians living in Turkiye


Soylu Karaca Z., YAĞCAN H., BİLGİÇ D.

FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH, cilt.14, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 14
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1807338
  • Dergi Adı: FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Psycinfo, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
  • Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Background Health-seeking behaviors directly affect migrant adolescents' access to healthcare, health outcomes, and social integration. The aim of this study is determine the effect of acculturation on health-seeking behaviors in adolescent migrants aged 16-18 years.Methods This descriptive and correlational cross-sectional study was conducted with 272 migrant adolescents, selected using convenience sampling, who completed the Individual Identity Form, the Health-Seeking Behavior Scale (HSBS) and the Vancouver Index of Acculturation (VIA). Data were collected between April 2023-April 2024 and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 27.Results Traditional health-seeking behavior and VIA core culture orientation had higher mean scores. mainstream culture orientation had positive and significant effect on health seeking behavior (p = 0.044).Conclusion Educated, socially secure, living mostly in cities with their nuclear families, and with income equal to expenditure, adolescent migrants scored significantly higher on the health-seeking behavior scale. These relationships revealed that cultural orientations have a significant effect on health seeking behaviors. Future studies with larger, diverse samples are recommended.