School Ethnic Density and Mental Health Problems in Black, Latine, and White Preadolescent Children.

Objective: Previous studies suggest school ethnic density is associated with less internalizing problems in Black and Latine adolescents in high school. Here, we assessed associations between school ethnic density and internalizing, externalizing, and thought problems in Black, Latine, and White pre-adolescent children (mean age=9.9 years) in elementary school. We additionally examined if associations differed by family generational status.

Method: We analyzed baseline data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study (n=10, 076). We operationalized school ethnic density as a measure of racial and/or ethnic concordance. In models stratified by race and ethnicity, we used generalized estimating equation models to assess associations between proportions of school racial and/or ethnic concordance and the internalizing, externalizing, and thought problem subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist. We subsequently adjusted for family and neighborhood socioeconomic factors and tested for interactions with family generational status.

Results: For Black children, a higher proportion of Black students at schools was associated with less internalizing (β=-1.11, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): -2.82, -.13; p =.026) and thought problems (β=-.47, 95% CI: -.78, -.06; p =.026). For Latine children, a higher proportion of Latine students was associated with less thought problems, but only among children from immigrant families (β=-.65, 95% CI: -1.20, -.09; p =.023). For White children, an initial association between a higher proportion of White students and less externalizing problems disappeared after controlling for socioeconomic factors.

Conclusion: We find protective associations between school ethnic density and mental health problems for Black children and Latine children from immigrant families.