Role of School Quality and Neighborhood Disadvantage in Educational Attainment: Do They Vary by Race?

Schools and neighborhoods are adolescents' primary environments, and each has a significant influence on their academic success. The majority of studies on educational attainment have examined the impact of a single context-either the school or the neighborhood-suggesting mixed findings on school and neighborhood effects as well as potential disparities across racial groups. To address this gap, the present study examined the roles of school quality and neighborhood disadvantage on educational attainment for White and Black adolescents. This study used the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health data collected from a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents, merging multiple data sources including in-home surveys, school administrator surveys, student-level educational records, and contextual data. Educational attainment was measured using college enrollment and graduation status. School quality was a significant predictor of college enrollment and graduation for both White and Black adolescents. Neighborhood disadvantage is significantly associated with college enrollment for both racial groups; however, college graduation is significant only for White adolescents. These findings suggest that improving school quality is particularly important for educational attainment regardless of racial background. The article concludes with a discussion on the differential roles of school quality and neighborhood disadvantage in relation to White and Black adolescents.

Intersections of poverty, race/ethnicity, and sex: alcohol consumption and adverse outcomes in the United States.

We examine whether intersectionality theory-which formalizes the notion that adverse health outcomes owing to having a marginalized social status, identity, or characteristic, may be magnified for individuals with an additional marginalized social status, identity, or characteristic-can be applied using quantitative methods to describe the differential effects of poverty on alcohol consumption across sex and race/ethnicity. Using the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, we analyze longitudinal data from Black, Hispanic, and White drinkers (n = 21,140) to assess multiplicative interactions between poverty, as defined by the US Census Bureau, sex, and race/ethnicity, on adverse alcohol outcomes. Findings indicated that the effect of poverty on the past-year incidence of heavy episodic drinking was stronger among Black men and Black women in comparison to men and women of other racial/ethnic groups. Poverty reduction programs that are culturally informed may help reduce racial/ethnic disparities in the adverse outcomes of alcohol consumption.

Psychosocial stressors and alcohol use, severity, and treatment receipt across human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status in a nationally representative sample of US residents.

BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is stigmatized and disproportionately impacts vulnerable populations. Thus, people living with HIV (PLWH) may have greater exposure to psychosocial stressors than those without HIV. Exposure to psychosocial stressors may increase alcohol use and serve as barriers to alcohol treatment receipt. The authors evaluate whether psychosocial stressors and alcohol use, symptom severity, and treatment receipt vary across HIV status in a general population sample of US residents and assess whether psychosocial stressors mediate identified associations. METHODS: Data from Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were used to assess associations between HIV status and psychosocial stressors (perceived stress, alcohol-related stigma, and perceived discrimination based on race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or sex) and alcohol-related outcomes (any use, heavy drinking, symptom severity, and treatment receipt). For each outcome, regression models were fit and iteratively adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and comorbidities. Indirect effects of HIV on alcohol-related outcomes through stressors were estimated to assess mediation when main effects were significant. RESULTS: Among 34,653 NESARC Wave 2 respondents, 161 were PLWH. PLWH were more likely than those without HIV to experience discrimination and had higher levels of perceived stress than those without HIV (P values <.05), but the 2 groups did not differ regarding alcohol-related stigma. PLWH were less likely to use alcohol and had similar rates of heavy drinking relative to participants without HIV, but alcohol symptom severity and treatment receipt were greater among PLWH. Perceived stress but not discrimination mediated associations. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this first study of variation in psychosocial stressors and alcohol use, severity, and treatment receipt across HIV status further highlight PLWH as a population that is particularly vulnerable to experiences of psychosocial stress and certain adverse alcohol-related outcomes. Future longitudinal research is needed in a larger sample of PLWH to identify intervention targets.

Impact of COVID-19-related Stress on Preschool Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Problem Behaviors: The Indirect Effect of Mother's Depression and Parenting Behavior.

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting families and children worldwide. Experiencing the pandemic leads to stress in families resulting from fear of infection and social isolation derived from social distancing. For families raising preschoolers, the prolonged closure of childcare centers puts additional childcare burden on family members, especially mothers. Due to the limited research exploring the impact of COVID-19 on preschool children's problem behaviors, this study examines the association between stress due to COVID-19 and preschool children's internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors related to mother's depression and parenting behavior. The study sample included data collected from 316 South Korean mothers raising preschool-aged children aged 3 to 5. The study findings suggest that mother's COVID-19 stress was indirectly associated with preschool children's internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors resulting from the mother's depression and parenting behaviors, although the direct effect of COVID-19 stress on preschool children's outcomes was not statistically significant. Increase in mother's COVID-19 stress was associated with increase in depression, and sequentially decreased positive parenting behaviors, which in turn resulted in preschool children's internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. The study findings highlight the need to focus on enhancing mental health of mothers and preschool children's adjustment by implementing supportive interventions to reduce the adverse impacts of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Examining family processes linked to adolescent problem behaviors in single-mother families: The moderating role of school connectedness.

Objective: Previous research has shown that adolescents in single-mother households are at heightened risk for adjustment problems. However, limited studies have investigated the mechanisms leading to adolescent problem behaviors in single-mother households. To address this research gap, this study applied the Family Stress Model to examine how single mothers' material hardship is linked to adolescent problem behaviors, focusing on the mediating roles of mothers' depression and mother-adolescent closeness. The moderating role of adolescent school connectedness in the relationships between mother-adolescent closeness and school connectedness and between mothers' depression and school connectedness was also investigated. Materials and methods: The study analyzed data from 1,384 adolescents and their single mothers who participated in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study at Wave 6. The associations between study variables were analyzed using structural equation modeling by decomposing the direct, indirect, and total effects of material hardship on adolescent problem behaviors. School connectedness's interactions with mother-adolescent closeness and mothers' depression were also examined. Results: Results showed a significant indirect relationship between material hardship and adolescent problem behaviors through sequential mediation of mothers' depression and mother-adolescent closeness. Mothers' depression also significantly mediated the relationship between material hardship and problem behaviors. Lastly, school connectedness moderated the relationship between mother-adolescent closeness and adolescents' internalizing behaviors. The association between mother-adolescent closeness and adolescents' internalizing behavior was weaker for adolescents with higher levels of school connectedness. Conclusion: The results indicate the important indirect effect of economic strain on adolescents' problems behaviors in single-mother households, which has been less emphasized compared to the effects in earlier childhood. High rates of material hardship and adolescent problem behaviors in single-mother families call for multifaceted interventions focusing on family processes and protective factors, including school environment.

Fine particulate matter and depressive symptoms in children: A mediation model of physical activity and a moderation model of family poverty.

RATIONALE: Exposure to fine particulate matter has adverse effects on mental health outcomes. However, no empirical study has yet been conducted on mechanisms of how and why exposure to fine particulate matter can affect mental health outcomes, especially focusing on children. In addition, children living in poverty may be more vulnerable to fine particulate matter. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine whether physical activity can explain the impact of ambient fine particulate matter on depressive symptoms among Korean children and whether family poverty moderates the associations between fine particulate matter, physical activity, and children's depressive symptoms. METHODS: Children and their primary caregiver data were drawn from the Children's Happiness Life Time Survey data collected by Child Fund Korea, and fine particulate matter data were derived from Air Korea, collected by the Korea Environment Corporation. Individual-level data were linked to a nationwide neighborhood-level data on air quality. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to consider the hierarchical data structure. The analytical sample consisted of 4,161 children living in 79 neighborhoods. RESULTS: The findings suggest that living in neighborhoods with higher levels of fine particulate matter is associated with a decrease in physical activity, which in turn increases children's depressive symptoms. Physical activity fully mediates the association between fine particulate matter and children's depressive symptoms. However, family poverty does not have a significant moderating role for the associations between fine particulate matter, physical activity, and children's depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate the importance of physical activity in relation to fine particulate matter and children's depressive symptoms.

Understanding the link between exposure to fine particulate matter and internalizing problem behaviors among children in South Korea: Indirect effects through maternal depression and child abuse.

Exposure to air pollution is known to have detrimental effects on health. Previous studies have also found that exposure to fine particulate matter can cause adverse mental health outcomes. However, the link between exposure to fine particulate matter and children's mental health outcomes remains largely unknown. Thus, this study aimed to understand the mechanisms of the effects of exposure to fine particulate matter on children's mental health outcomes, particularly focusing on internalizing problem behaviors. Using fine particulate data from the Ministry of Environment's Air Korea initiative and data from the Panel Study on Korean Children in 2018, this study employed structural equation models to examine the associations between exposure to fine particulate matter, maternal depressive symptoms, child abuse, and children's internalizing problems. Findings suggest that living in neighborhoods with higher exposure to fine particulate matter is positively associated with maternal depressive symptoms, increasing emotional abuse and neglect, which in turn is positively associated with children's internalizing problem behavior. However, physical abuse was not a significant mediator of children's internalizing problem behaviors. It may be necessary for policies that provide interventions for primary caregivers to reduce depression and child abuse to promote mental health outcomes for children, even in the presence of severe fine particulates.