Political to Personal: Shifts in Youths' Attitudes Following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Race and Election.

Sociopolitical events have been associated with shifts in youth mental health and attitudes. This study assessed six cohorts of American 12th graders (2012-2017) to examine trends in youths' attitudes about themselves, the future, and others surrounding the U.S. 2016 presidential race and election. Analyses assessed overall trends and variation by political affiliation. Results indicated a rise across cohorts in future pessimism and nihilism after 2015, driven by youth identified as Democrat rather than Republican. A rise in concern for others was similarly driven by Democrat youth, whereas a rise in value of diversity was shared across all political identities. In contrast, Republican youth cohorts reported increasing external locus of control relative to their Democratic peers. Implications are discussed.

Concentrated poverty in preschools and children's cognitive skills: The mediational role of peers and teachers.

Economic inequality and ensuing economic stratification in educational and community contexts are growing in the United States. Given these patterns, it is essential to understand the implications of economic stratification in early education settings. This paper delineates repercussions of the concentration of poor children in preschool programs using lagged structural equation models estimated in two longitudinal studies following 3396 4-year-old children in 486 primarily publicly-funded preschool classrooms through kindergarten entrance. Concentrated poverty in preschool classrooms was associated with lower language and reading skills in kindergarten in part through children's exposure to less cognitively-skilled peers, with teacher instructional quality not serving as a reliable mediator. These associations did not emerge in relation to children's math skills. Results expand conceptual models of peer effects and inform preschool policies which seek to increase quality and equity and enhance children's learning.

Secular Trends in Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: Growing Disparities between Advantaged and Disadvantaged Schools.

Growing economic inequality across the family and school contexts that adolescents inhabit may have significant consequences for their psychological well-being. Yet little research has assessed the mental health repercussions of economic inequities or whether such repercussions have shifted with rising inequality. This study assessed annual Monitoring the Future surveys with 8th (n = 124,468; age 13; 59 percent White, 41 percent students of color), 10th (n = 164,916; age 15; 65 percent white, 35 percent students of color), and 12th (n = 60,664; age 17; 66 percent white, 34 percent students of color) grade students from 1989-2017. Analyses tracked secular trends in adolescent depressive symptoms and assessed whether family and school socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in depressive symptoms have shifted over time. Depressive symptoms showed significant elevations in 2014-2017 among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders over 2010-2013 levels. Pervasive small SES gaps were found in adolescent depressive symptoms, with youth from lower SES families and lower SES schools reporting higher depressive symptoms than their more advantaged peers across all grades. Family SES gaps remained stable over recent decades, whereas school SES gaps rose significantly in recent years across all grades and genders, suggesting that the recent rise in depressive symptoms is driven by adolescents in low SES schools. The results suggest that repercussions of growing economic inequality may extend to psychological outcomes, and identify the need for greater preventive and intervention services targeting adolescent mental health.

Are the Benefits of Economic Resources for Socioemotional Functioning Shared across Racial/Ethnic Groups?

Growth in economic disparities, economic segregation, and racial/ethnic diversity have occurred in tandem in the U.S., leading to essential questions concerning whether the benefits of economic resources are shared across diverse groups. Analyzing a sample of eighth grade early adolescents (age 14 years) drawn from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (N = 7625; 59% White, 12% Black, 19% Hispanic, 7% Asian, 2% Native American, and 2% multiracial; 47% female), lagged regression models assessed links between family, neighborhood, and school income and adolescent emotional and behavioral functioning. The results found that family income was associated with heightened emotional and behavioral functioning, and school income with improved behavioral functioning for White adolescents, whereas no benefits emerged for Black or Hispanic youth. In contrast, mixed associations emerged between income and early adolescent functioning for Asian and American Indian youth, with predominantly negative links appearing for multiracial youth. These patterns highlight diversity in the potential benefits and costs of economic resources, and suggest the need to better specify mechanisms through which economic disparities affect youth from varied backgrounds.

Locating Economic Risks for Adolescent Mental and Behavioral Health: Poverty and Affluence in Families, Neighborhoods, and Schools.

Research has identified risks of both poverty and affluence for adolescents. This study sought to clarify associations between income and youth mental and behavioral health by delineating economic risks derived from family, neighborhood, and school contexts within a nationally representative sample of high school students (N = 13,179, average age 16). Attending schools with more affluent schoolmates was associated with heightened likelihoods of intoxication, drug use, and property crime, but youth at poorer schools reported greater depressive and anxiety symptoms, engagement in violence, and for male adolescents, more frequent violence and intoxication. Neighborhood and family income were far less predictive. Results suggest that adolescent health risks derive from both ends of the economic spectrum, and may be largely driven by school contexts.