Schools are one of the strongest socializing forces in the U.S. and wield considerable influence over individuals' social and economic trajectories. Our study investigates how school-level racial composition, measured by the percentage non-Hispanic white students in a school, affects depressive and somatic symptoms among a representative sample of U.S. adolescents, and whether the association differs by race/ethnicity. We analyzed Wave I data from the US National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, resulting in a sample size of 18,419 students attending 132 junior and senior high schools in 1994/5. After controlling for individual and school characteristics, our multilevel analyses indicated that with increasing percentages of white students at their school, black students experienced more depressive symptoms and a higher risk of reporting high levels of somatic symptoms. After including students' perceptions of discrimination and school attachment, the interaction between black student race and school-level racial composition was no longer significant for either outcome. Our findings suggest that attending predominantly-minority schools may buffer black students from discrimination and increase their school attachment, which may reduce their risk of experiencing depressive and somatic symptoms.

SYNOPSISObjectives. Education has long been considered a protective factor against sexual risk behaviors and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents; however, few have explored this association and determined differences across racial/ethnic groups of young adult females on a national scale. The purpose of this study was to (1) describe the association between education and STI diagnosis among a national sample of black and white young adult females and (2) examine racial differences in this association.Methods. We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to assess the association between education and chlamydia, gonorrhea, and/or trichomoniasis (self-reported and assay-diagnosed) in 2001-2002 using logistic regression analysis.Results. After adjustment for risk behaviors, education was inversely associated with any assay-diagnosed STI, but this association was nonsignificant among black women for self-reported STI. Additionally, black females enrolled in, or who graduated from, college had significantly higher predicted probabilities of having an STI (12.4% self-reported; 13.4% assay-diagnosed) compared with white females who had less than a high school diploma (6.4% self-reported; 2.3% assay-diagnosed).Conclusions. Educational status was not uniformly protective against STIs for black and white females in this sample. Particularly for young black women, other factors may play a more prominent role in determining STI risk. Social determinants, such as education, should be viewed as important factors associated with STI prevalence, but their differential impact on various racial/ethnic groups should also be considered when addressing the disproportionate rates of STIs in the U.S.