Personal support networks of immigrants to Spain: A multilevel analysis

Immigrant flows to Spain have increased in the last decade, but little is known about the composition and role of personal support networks of immigrants to Spain. Our research questions are 1) to what extent are Spaniards, (more settled Spanish residents) present in an immigrants’ network, compared with non-Spaniards, such as other recent immigrants? 2) Which factors are associated with ties between immigrants and Spaniards compared with immigrant ties to non-Spaniards? 3) Does the support role of non-Spaniards and Spaniards differ? We analyse personal network data where each immigrant was asked about the role of their support network. Data were collected at two time points: 1) the first three months in Spain since the immigrant arrived, and 2) the six months previous to the survey interview. Multilevel logistic regression models are applied; the dependent variable is whether the immigrant has a tie to a Spaniard alter, as opposed to a non-Spaniard. We determine the characteristics that are most strongly associated with the probability of a tie between an immigrant and a Spaniard, including characteristics of the alters, the immigrants (ego), the relative characteristics of egoalter, geographical factors and support roles. We use single-level ordered logistic regression models to investigate factors associated with the total number of Spaniards in the support network. Attributes of alters and egos are found to be important in predicting ties between immigrants and Spaniards, and to predict the total number of Spaniards in an immigrant’s network, especially the country of origin of the immigrant.