title: The intersection of school racial composition and student race/ethnicity on adolescent depressive and somatic symptoms.
abstract: Schools are one of the strongest socializing forces in the U.S. and wield considerable influence over individuals' social and economic trajectories. Our study investigates how school-level racial composition, measured by the percentage non-Hispanic white students in a school, affects depressive and somatic symptoms among a representative sample of U.S. adolescents, and whether the association differs by race/ethnicity. We analyzed Wave I data from the US National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, resulting in a sample size of 18,419 students attending 132 junior and senior high schools in 1994/5. After controlling for individual and school characteristics, our multilevel analyses indicated that with increasing percentages of white students at their school, black students experienced more depressive symptoms and a higher risk of reporting high levels of somatic symptoms. After including students' perceptions of discrimination and school attachment, the interaction between black student race and school-level racial composition was no longer significant for either outcome. Our findings suggest that attending predominantly-minority schools may buffer black students from discrimination and increase their school attachment, which may reduce their risk of experiencing depressive and somatic symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior, University of South Carolina, 800 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. kwalsema@sc.edu
authors.forename: Katrina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Walsemann
authors.forename: Bethany A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: Debeshi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maitra
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003863:Depression / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000208:ethnology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012923:Social Class; D012933:Social Identification; D012938:Social Perception; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001741:Black or African American