Psychosocial Benefits of Ethnic Diversity in Urban Middle Schools

城市中学种族多样性的心理社会效益

• 批准号: 7886361
• 负责人: SANDRA H GRAHAM
• 金额: $ 52.56万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-06-07 至 2015-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7886361
• 关键词: Adolescence; Adolescent; Adopted; Affective; African American; Age; Anniversary; Anxiety; Asians; Attitude; Awareness; Belief; Buffers; California; Characteristics; Child; Climate; Cognitive; Complex; Conflict (Psychology); Country; Data; Desegregation; Development; Discipline; Eating; Education; Equation; Equilibrium; Ethnic Origin; Ethnic group; Exposure to; Failure; Feeling; Frequencies; Friendships; Gender; Goals; Gray unit of radiation dose; Growth; Happiness; Individual; Kindling (Neurology); Latino; Lead; Left; Legal; Life; Light; Literature; Longitudinal Studies; Maintenance; Mediating; Mediation; Mental Depression; Mental Health; Modeling; Outcome; Pacific Island Americans; Pathway interactions; Perception; Personal Satisfaction; Play; Policies; Population Heterogeneity; Poverty; Prejudice; Process; Psychologist; Race; Reporting; Research; Risk; Role; Safety; Sampling; School-Age Population; Schools; Self Perception; Social Identification; Social Policies; Stress; Students; Symptoms; Testing; Time; Walking; Youth; base; cohort; court; early adolescence; ethnic minority population; experience; falls; improved; insight; longitudinal design; member; middle school; multilevel analysis; peer; peer victimization; programs; psychologic; psychosocial; public health relevance; racial and ethnic; self esteem; social; social attachment; social group; social science research; theories; ward

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this research is to test a set of interrelated hypotheses about the psychosocial benefits of racial/ethnic diversity in urban middle schools. It is hypothesized that greater diversity can benefit students' mental health, intergroup attitudes, and school adaptation via three mediating mechanisms: (1) decreases in perceived vulnerability; (2) the formation and maintenance of cross-ethnic friendships; and (3) the development of complex social identities. These mediating mechanisms are examined in Aims 1-3. Aim 4 explores the moderating influences of individual student characteristics and school structural characteristics such as academic tracking that may limit the mixing opportunities of students. The hypotheses outlined in the four aims will be examined in a 3-year longitudinal study of approximately 7200 6th grade students as they enter one of 24 urban middle schools in southern or northern California. The large sample will be ethnically diverse, comprised of Latino, African American, Asian, Pacific Islander, White, and multi-ethnic students. The 24 middle schools that these students attend will be carefully selected to vary in racial/ethnic composition and level of diversity. Data on students' perceived vulnerability, cross-ethnic friendships, and social identities as well as the outcomes of mental health, intergroup attitudes, and school adaptation will be gathered in Fall and Spring of 6th grade and in Spring of 7th and 8th grade, for a total of four waves of data. Structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling will be used to track growth and change in these interrelated variables over time. By studying pathways to successful adaptation, the overarching goal of the research is to examine the conditions under which greater school ethnic diversity can buffer many of the normative challenges of early adolescence. Findings from the project will provide new insights into the role of school ethnic diversity as a psychosocial protective factor and into the meaning of ethnic diversity as a multi-faceted and dynamic construct. From a social policy perspective, the results can also contribute to the discourse on legal options for achieving greater racial/ethnic diversity in our nation's urban public schools. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The purpose of this research is to examine the conditions under which greater racial/ethnic diversity in middle school can buffer many of the normative challenges of early adolescence. The focus will be on the ways in which ethnic diversity can contribute to improved mental health, more positives attitudes about peers from other racial/ethnic groups, and better school outcomes for all students. Findings will offer new insights into the role of school ethnic diversity as a psychosocial protective factor and into the meaning of racial/ethnic diversity as a multi-faceted and dynamic construct.

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的目的是测试一组相互关联的假设，在城市中学种族/民族多样性的心理社会效益。本研究假设，多元性可以通过三个中介机制促进学生的心理健康、群体间态度和学校适应：（1）减少感知的脆弱性;（2）形成和维持跨种族友谊;（3）发展复杂的社会身份。目标1-3审查了这些中介机制。目的4探讨个别学生特征和学校结构特征的调节作用，例如可能限制学生混合机会的学业跟踪。四个目标中概述的假设将在一项为期3年的纵向研究，约7200名六年级学生，因为他们进入24个城市中学之一，在南部或北方加州。大样本将是种族多样的，包括拉丁美洲人，非洲裔美国人，亚洲人，太平洋岛民，白色和多种族的学生。这些学生就读的24所中学将经过精心挑选，在种族/民族组成和多样性水平上各不相同。关于学生感知的脆弱性，跨种族友谊和社会身份以及心理健康，群体间态度和学校适应的结果的数据将在6年级的秋季和春季以及7年级和8年级的春季收集，共四波数据。结构方程模型和多层次模型将用于跟踪这些相互关联的变量随时间的增长和变化。通过研究成功适应的途径，研究的总体目标是研究在何种条件下，更大的学校种族多样性可以缓冲许多早期青春期的规范性挑战。 该项目的调查结果将提供新的见解，学校的种族多样性作为一个心理社会保护因素的作用，并进入种族多样性的意义，作为一个多方面的和动态的结构。从社会政策的角度来看，研究结果也有助于讨论在我国城市公立学校实现更大的种族/民族多样性的法律的选择。 公共卫生相关性：本研究的目的是研究条件下，更大的种族/民族的多样性，在中学可以缓冲许多规范的挑战，早期青春期。重点将放在种族多样性如何有助于改善心理健康，对其他种族/族裔群体的同龄人采取更积极的态度，以及为所有学生提供更好的学校成果。调查结果将提供新的见解学校的种族多样性的作用，作为一个心理社会保护因素和种族/民族多样性的意义，作为一个多方面的和动态的结构。