A Silver Lining: The Role of Ethnic Diversity on Co-Occurring Trajectories of Weight Status and Peer Victimization Across Early Adolescence

Extensive research has demonstrated that neighbourhood ethnic diversity is negatively associated with intra-neighbourhood social capital. This study explores the role of segregation and integration in this relationship. To do so it applies three-level hierarchical linear models to two sets of data from across Great Britain and within London, and examines how segregation across the wider-community in which a neighbourhood is nested impacts trust amongst neighbours. This study replicates the increasingly ubiquitous finding that neighbourhood diversity is negatively associated with neighbour-trust. However, we demonstrate that this relationship is highly dependent on the level of segregation across the wider-community in which a neighbourhood is nested. Increasing neighbourhood diversity only negatively impacts neighbour-trust when nested in more segregated wider-communities. Individuals living in diverse neighbourhoods nested within integrated wider-communities experience no trust-penalty. These findings show that segregation plays a critical role in the neighbourhood diversity/trust relationship, and that its absence from the literature biases our understanding of how ethnic diversity affects social cohesion.

Download Full-text

Maternal depressive symptoms and children's academic performance: sex differences in the mediating role of school experiences

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291720004298 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Marilyn N. Ahun ◽

Lamprini Psychogiou ◽

Frédéric Guay ◽

Michel Boivin ◽

Richard E. Tremblay ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Peer Victimization ◽

School Engagement ◽

School Experiences ◽

Maternal Depressive Symptoms ◽

Reading And Writing ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Writing Scores

Abstract Background Maternal depressive symptoms (MDSs) are negatively associated with children's academic performance, with stronger effects sometimes reported in boys. However, few studies have tested the mechanisms of this association. We examined the mediating role of school engagement and peer victimization in this association and tested for sex differences. Methods Participants were 1173 families from a population-based longitudinal Canadian study. MDSs were self-reported annually using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (child's age: 5 months to 5 years). Data on mediators (peer victimization, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional school engagement) were reported annually from ages 6–10 by multiple informants including children, parents, and teachers using items from validated scales. Mathematics, reading, and writing exam scores at age 12 were obtained from standardized exams administered by Québec's Ministry of Education and Teaching. Structural equation modeling was used to test mediation by school experiences in boys and girls. Results Exposure to MDSs was negatively associated with mathematics, reading, and writing scores in girls and with mathematics only in boys. Cognitive and behavioral engagement significantly mediated the association between MDSs and mathematics, reading, and writing scores in girls. There were no significant mediators for boys. Conclusions Prevention and intervention strategies aiming to improve school engagement might be beneficial for daughters of mothers experiencing depressive symptoms. Further research is needed to replicate these findings and to identify the mechanisms explaining this association in boys.

Download Full-text