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: 8082627
• 负责人: SANDRA H GRAHAM
• 金额: $ 48.98万
• 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/8082627
• 关键词: Adolescence; Adolescent; Adopted; African American; Anniversary; Asians; Attitude; Awareness; Belief; Buffers; California; Characteristics; Child; Cognitive; Complex; Conflict (Psychology); Country; Data; Desegregation; Development; Eating; Education; Equation; Equilibrium; Ethnic Origin; Ethnic group; Exposure to; Failure; Feeling; Friendships; Goals; Gray unit of radiation dose; Growth; Happiness; Individual; Kindling (Neurology); Latino; Lead; Left; Legal; Life; Light; Literature; Longitudinal Studies; Maintenance; Mediating; Mediation; Mental Health; Modeling; Outcome; Pacific Island Americans; Pathway interactions; Perception; Personal Satisfaction; Play; Policies; Population Heterogeneity; Poverty; Prejudice; Process; Psychologist; Reporting; Research; Risk; Role; Sampling; School-Age Population; Schools; Self Perception; Social Identification; Social Policies; Stress; Students; Testing; Time; Walking; Youth; base; cohort; court; early adolescence; ethnic minority population; experience; falls; improved; insight; longitudinal design; member; middle school; multilevel analysis; peer; 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）：这项研究的目的是检验一组关于城市中学种族/种族多样性的社会心理益处的相互关联的假设。假设更多的多样性可以通过三种中介机制使学生的心理健康，群体间的态度和学校适应受益：（1）减少感知到的脆弱性； （2）跨种族友谊的形成和维护； （3）复杂的社会身份的发展。这些中介机制在目标1-3中进行了检查。 AIM 4探讨了个体学生特征和学校结构特征的调节影响，例如学术跟踪可能会限制学生的混合机会。四个目标中概述的假设将在一项为期3年的纵向研究中，对大约7200个六年级学生进入南加州南部或北加州的24个城市中学之一。大型样本将在种族上多样化，包括拉丁裔，非裔美国人，亚洲人，太平洋岛民，白人和多种族学生。这些学生参加的24所中学将被仔细选择以各种种族/种族组成和多样性水平。有关学生感知到的脆弱性，跨种族友谊，社会身份以及心理健康，群体间态度和学校适应结果的数据，将在六年级的秋季和春季聚集，以及7年级和8年级的春季，总共有四个数据浪潮。随着时间的推移，结构方程建模和多级建模将用于跟踪这些相互关联的变量的生长和变化。通过研究成功适应的途径，该研究的总体目标是检查更大的学校种族多样性可以缓解青春期早期的许多规范性挑战的条件。 该项目的发现将为学校种族多样性作为一种社会心理保护因素的作用以及种族多样性作为一种多方面和动态的构造的含义提供新的见解。从社会政策的角度来看，结果还可以为在我们国家城市公立学校中实现更大种族/种族多样性的法律选择的论述做出贡献。 公共卫生相关性：这项研究的目的是检查中学中更大的种族/种族多样性可以缓解青春期早期的许多规范性挑战的条件。重点将放在种族多样性可以改善心理健康的方式上，对其他种族/族裔群体的同龄人的更多积极态度以及对所有学生的学校成果更好。调查结果将为学校种族多样性作为心理社会保护因素的作用，以及种族/种族多样性作为多方面和动态的结构的含义提供新的见解。