Pushed Out, Pulled Down: Examining the Influence of School Suspension on Youth's Depressive Symptoms

• In Event: 58.082 - Roundtable Session 25
  In Roundtable Session: 58.082-3 - Promoting Academic Achievement by Navigating Psychosocial Factors

Abstract

Scholars have increasingly strengthened their gaze on the school-to-prison pipeline. Questions remain regarding the unintended consequences of school discipline practices. Answers to these questions are pertinent given the inequitable use of school discipline at critical stages of youth development. The purpose of this study is to examine one of those unattended consequences by uncovering whether school suspension is linked to the expression of depressive symptomatology among adolescents. To achieve this goal, we rely on stage-environment fit theory and longitudinal data from 6,503 urban youth from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth-1997. The findings reveal that suspension from school is positively associated with the presence of depressive symptomatology for youth.

Authors

• Stacey Houston, Vanderbilt University

• Brittany Hearne, Vanderbilt University