Tags

Type your tag names separated by a space and hit enter

Ethnic density in school classes and adolescent mental health.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2010 Jun; 45(6):639-46.SP

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

The present study set out to examine the association between ethnic composition of school classes and prevalence of internalising and externalising problem behaviour among ethnic minority and majority students.

METHODS

Data were derived from the Dutch 2002 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, a nationally representative cross-sectional study with a total of 5,730 adolescents, aged 11-18 and attending secondary school, of which 931 belong to ethnic minority groups. The data were analysed using a multilevel regression model.

RESULTS

The study revealed that, after taking individual characteristics like age, gender, educational level and family affluence into account, ethnic minority students on average report higher levels of externalising but not internalising problems. Ethnic density on the level of school classes modified this difference, as a negative association between the proportion ethnic minority students in class and externalising problem behaviour was found, but only for ethnic minority students. No effect of ethnic composition was found with respect to internalising problem behaviour.

CONCLUSION

The data revealed that ethnic minority students report higher levels of externalising problem behaviour, but only in classes with a minority of ethnic minority students and not in classes with a culturally diverse composition. This points towards a possible beneficial effect of a more culturally diverse environment for minority students. Majority students appeared to be insensitive for the ethnic density effect. Future studies should investigate the role of the ethnic composition of the school class more in-depth.

Links

Publisher Full Text
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
dx.doi.org
PMC Free PDF

Authors+Show Affiliations

Gieling M
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands. m.gieling@uu.nl
Vollebergh W
No affiliation info available
van Dorsselaer S
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AdolescentAdolescent BehaviorChildChild Behavior DisordersCultural DiversityEthnic GroupsFemaleHealth SurveysHumansMaleMental DisordersMinority GroupsNetherlandsPopulation DensityPrevalenceRisk FactorsSchoolsSocial EnvironmentSocioeconomic FactorsStudentsSurveys and Questionnaires

Pub Type(s)

Comparative Study
Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

19655079

Citation

Gieling, Maike, et al. "Ethnic Density in School Classes and Adolescent Mental Health." Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, vol. 45, no. 6, 2010, pp. 639-46.
Gieling M, Vollebergh W, van Dorsselaer S. Ethnic density in school classes and adolescent mental health. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2010;45(6):639-46.
Gieling, M., Vollebergh, W., & van Dorsselaer, S. (2010). Ethnic density in school classes and adolescent mental health. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 45(6), 639-46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0105-6
Gieling M, Vollebergh W, van Dorsselaer S. Ethnic Density in School Classes and Adolescent Mental Health. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2010;45(6):639-46. PubMed PMID: 19655079.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Ethnic density in school classes and adolescent mental health. AU - Gieling,Maike, AU - Vollebergh,Wilma, AU - van Dorsselaer,Saskia, Y1 - 2009/08/05/ PY - 2009/02/05/received PY - 2009/07/15/accepted PY - 2009/8/6/entrez PY - 2009/8/6/pubmed PY - 2010/7/27/medline SP - 639 EP - 46 JF - Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology JO - Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol VL - 45 IS - 6 N2 - OBJECTIVE: The present study set out to examine the association between ethnic composition of school classes and prevalence of internalising and externalising problem behaviour among ethnic minority and majority students. METHODS: Data were derived from the Dutch 2002 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, a nationally representative cross-sectional study with a total of 5,730 adolescents, aged 11-18 and attending secondary school, of which 931 belong to ethnic minority groups. The data were analysed using a multilevel regression model. RESULTS: The study revealed that, after taking individual characteristics like age, gender, educational level and family affluence into account, ethnic minority students on average report higher levels of externalising but not internalising problems. Ethnic density on the level of school classes modified this difference, as a negative association between the proportion ethnic minority students in class and externalising problem behaviour was found, but only for ethnic minority students. No effect of ethnic composition was found with respect to internalising problem behaviour. CONCLUSION: The data revealed that ethnic minority students report higher levels of externalising problem behaviour, but only in classes with a minority of ethnic minority students and not in classes with a culturally diverse composition. This points towards a possible beneficial effect of a more culturally diverse environment for minority students. Majority students appeared to be insensitive for the ethnic density effect. Future studies should investigate the role of the ethnic composition of the school class more in-depth. SN - 1433-9285 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/19655079/Ethnic_density_in_school_classes_and_adolescent_mental_health_ L2 - https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0105-6 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -