Ethnic school class composition, social preference and ethnic differences in internalizing and externalizing problems in elementary school children.

Abstract

The present study set out to examine the relation between ethnic class composition and internalizing and externalizing problems in ethnic minority and majority elementary school children in the Netherlands, as well as the extent to which this relationship was mediated by social preference. 745 children aged 10 to 12, in 39 school classes, completed questionnaires and participated in interviews. Multilevel structural equation modelling revealed an effect of ethnic class composition for ethnic minority as well as ethnic majority children with respect to only internalizing problems, showing that children who took in a minority position in class displayed relatively high levels of internalizing problems. Differences in social preference could not account for these effects. Further research is needed to examine acceptance as an underlying mechanism of the ethnic density effect as well as possible different outcomes of the ethnic density effect for elementary school children and adolescents.