Pushed Out and Drawn In: Exclusionary Discipline, Mental Health, and Protective Factors Among Youth in Public Schools.
Marvin So, Rebecca L Freese, Andrew J Barnes
PMID 37867252WHAT IT FOUND
Students suspended or sent out of class in the past month reported higher rates of depression and anxiety symptoms than peers who were not.
Protective factors like adult support at school were linked to lower symptom likelihood across all students.
Key findings
01Exclusionary discipline was associated with greater odds for positive depression and anxiety symptom screens in the overall sample.
02Individual, interpersonal, and school-level protective factors were associated with lower likelihood for depression and anxiety symptoms for youth with and without exclusionary discipline.
03The association between exclusionary discipline and mental health symptoms persisted within individual racial and ethnic groups, though magnitudes varied.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The cross-sectional design prevents determining whether exclusionary discipline causes mental health symptoms or if students with symptoms are more likely to be disciplined. Exclusionary discipline was measured as a binary variable (yes/no in past month), ignoring differences in subtype (in-school vs. out-of-school) or dose-response effects. Data relied on student self-report, which may introduce recency bias or social desirability bias. The study focused on public schools in Minnesota, so findings may not generalize to other school contexts or states.
Declared interests
The authors have nothing to disclose. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the association between exclusionary discipline and mental health symptoms as proof that discipline causes these symptoms. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality or temporality, and a bidirectional relationship is possible.