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Exclusionary school discipline has received national attention due to its association with juvenile justice contact. Research has demonstrated support for links between exclusionary discipline and negative outcomes such as school dropout and juvenile justice involvement. The purpose of this study was to examine the intersections of race, gender, and disability in explaining the risk for juvenile justice contact using a state database, representing a sample of adolescent students. Controlling for individual, school, and community characteristics that are associated with juvenile justice contact such as, race/ethnicity, previous years’ discipline rate, student retention from previous year, primary disability, whether the campus is a Title I school, as well as student body size and diversity, results suggest that disproportionality is prevalent when examining juvenile justice contacts, but the relationship among race, gender, disability, and discipline is a complicated one. Implications for understanding juvenile justice contact outcomes and future research for advancing the field are discussed.

BACKGROUND About one third of youth in the United States are overweight or obese and African American youth are at an increased risk for pediatric overweight and obesity as well as their complications. Physical activity has been identified as one determinant of overweight and obesity, and school bullying has been found to be associated with decreased physical activity. Guided by the Transactional Stress and Coping Model, this study examines how school bullying might impact the physical activity of white and African American healthy weight and overweight youth. METHODS Existing, nationally representative, and complex survey data (N = 4509) from the 2005–2006 United States Health Behavior in School‐Aged Children (HBSC) were analyzed using multiple group structural equation modeling to evaluate study questions. RESULTS Support for the hypothesized model was found such that bullying negatively impacted physical activity by way of increasing internalizing symptoms. Possible evidence for parental support, but not peer support, as a protective factor was also found. Results were generally similar for all groups, though some differences are discussed. CONCLUSION School bullying is a risk factor for reduced physical activity, regardless of race‐ethnicity and weight. Implications for school health professionals are discussed.

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