A recent study indicates that children facing suspension or expulsion from school experience elevated levels of depression as they transition into their teenage years and beyond.
In the United States, approximately 5 million children are suspended or expelled from school each year. New research from the University of Arkansas reveals that such disciplinary actions can result in increased rates of depression during adolescence and extending into early adulthood.
The results of the study were published in the latest edition of Advances in Life Course Research. This research adds concrete evidence to previous academic claims that suspensions and expulsions from school can lead to long-lasting mental health issues.
Driven by strict zero-tolerance policies, the rate of school suspensions and expulsions surged by about 50% from the 1970s to 2010. What used to be a response only to severe offenses like violence, drug-related activities, or weapon possession has increasingly been applied to less severe infractions.
“The criteria shifted from clearly harmful actions to more subjective behaviors, such as showing disrespect or defiance,” explained Alexia Angton, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Arkansas.
Currently, 60% of schools in the U.S. still apply exclusionary discipline, despite ongoing debates among researchers about its effectiveness. Suspensions and expulsions disproportionately affect boys, economically disadvantaged youths, and students from Black, Latino, and Native American backgrounds.
Utilizing the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), which follows 20,000 individuals who were teenagers in the mid-1990s, Angton and her team tracked reported depression among those who had faced suspensions or expulsions later in life.
The researchers found that adolescents who had been suspended or expelled exhibited “significantly higher depressive symptoms”. While their reported depression levels dipped a bit in their late teens and early twenties, they increased again as they approached their early thirties, based on the most current data from the Add Health survey.
Previous research has established that experiencing stress at a young age can lead to health issues in adulthood. However, much of this research has primarily focused on negative childhood experiences at home, like physical abuse or parental substance use.
“We know very little about how stressors in the school environment influence long-term physical and mental health outcomes. This study paves the way for a new area of research,” stated co-author Michael Niño, an associate professor of sociology and criminology at U of A and director of the Arkansas Health Equity and Access Lab.
Another study led by Niño, published earlier this year in the journal Socius, revealed that students who were suspended or expelled reported ongoing physical health issues that persisted from adolescence into middle age.
“In general, we certainly need to consider reforms in disciplinary practices,” Angton remarked. “What measures can we take to mitigate the long-term impacts of suspension and expulsion?”
Co-authors of this study include Shauna Morimoto, a U of A professor of sociology and criminology as well as associate dean of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, and Kazumi Tsuchiya, an assistant professor of public health at the University of Toronto.
