@article{ref1,
title="Classmates' discrimination experiences and adolescent depressive symptoms: evidence from random assignment of students to classrooms in South Korea",
journal="Journal of Adolescent Health",
year="2023",
author="Jang, Hayun and Son, Hyewon and Kim, Jinho",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine the association between classmates' discrimination experiences and an individual student's depressive symptoms. A set of social-psychological and behavioral variables were considered as potential mechanisms underlying this association. <br><br>METHODS: The data came from the Gyeonggi Education Panel Study of seventh graders in South Korea. This study leveraged quasi-experimental variation generated from random assignment of students to classes within schools to address the endogenous school selection problem and account for the unobserved school-level confounders. To formally test for mediation, Sobel tests were conducted and peer attachment, school satisfaction, smoking, and drinking were explored as mechanism variables. <br><br>RESULTS: An increase in classmates' discrimination experiences was positively associated with an individual student's depressive symptoms. This association remained statistically significant even after adjusting for personal discrimination experience, a myriad of individual- and class-level covariates, as well as school fixed effects (b = 0.325, p <.05). Classmates' discrimination experiences were also associated with a decline in peer attachment and school satisfaction (b = -0.386, p <.01 and b = -0.399, p <.05, respectively). These psychosocial factors explained about one-third of the association between classmates' discrimination experiences and individual students' depressive symptoms. <br><br>DISCUSSION: The findings of this study suggest that exposure to peer-level discrimination experience leads to friend detachment and school dissatisfaction, which in turn increases an individual student's depressive symptoms. This study reaffirms the importance of fostering a more cohesive and nondiscriminatory school environment to promote adolescents' psychological health and well-being.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1054-139X",
doi="10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.12.027",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.12.027"
}