School ‘resegregation’ associated with behavioral issues among Black children

A study found that trends toward school racial “resegregation” are associated with increased behavioral problems among Black school-aged children and unhealthier drinking behaviors, especially among girls.

The authors of the study, which was published in Pediatrics, noted that although the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision ruled that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional, courts have eased desegregation policies over the past 3 decades.

“Attending highly segregated schools, a common experience for Black children, may be a particularly salient determinant of health inequities,” they wrote. “School segregation may adversely affect Black children’s health and behaviors through reduced school quality and increased exposure to racial discrimination. Conversely, school segregation could plausibly improve health outcomes by reducing exposure to interpersonal racism from white peers or teachers. Evidence on the health impacts of school segregation, however, is sparse.”

The researchers examined data from the 1997 to 2014 editions of the of Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, which included 1,248 Black children who lived in districts under desegregation orders.

Ultimately, they found that greater school segregation was associated with increased behavioral problems that could affect the students’ long-term well-being, with a one standard deviation increase in school segregation associated with increased behavioral problems (2.53 points on a 27-point scale; 95% CI, 0.26-4.8), probability of having ever drunk alcohol (0.23; 95% CI, 0.049-0.42) and drinking at least monthly (0.2; 95% CI, 0.053-0.35).

“The results for behavioral problems align with prior literature linking social, racial, and economic marginalization with inequities in child behavioral problems,” they wrote. “Children who are consistently exposed to stressful family and neighborhood environments may have more difficulty managing mental and emotional challenges and may experience impaired cognitive development. Here, school segregation may lead to increased child stress.”

The authors concluded that the results showed that interventions are needed to improve schools for Black children — including reintegrating, reforming school funding formulas and reducing harsh treatment of Black children — but added that more research is needed to evaluate the effects of such policies on educational and health inequities.

In an accompanying commentary, Dmitry Tumin, PhD, professor of pediatrics at the East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine, called the study “a timely reminder that the harms of school segregation persist and extend beyond the schoolhouse walls.”

“Notwithstanding larger structural forces, such as residential segregation, and the role of individual families’ beliefs and choices, recent research suggests that action at the level of schools and districts can have critical implications for exacerbating or reversing trends in school resegregation,” Tumin wrote. “Building on the current study, future work leveraging local health data would help reveal how advocacy at this level can undo the harm school segregation has caused and is continuing to cause.”

References:

Tumin D. Pediatrics. 2021;doi:10.1542/peds.2022-056416.

Wang G, et al. Pediatrics. 2022;doi:10.1542/peds.2021-055952.