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From classroom to life: Gender differences in the persistent effect of learning disabilities on adult depressive symptoms

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  • Rim, Hyunseo
  • Son, Hyewon
  • Kim, Jinho

Abstract

Despite the well-established link between adolescent learning disabilities (LD) and mental health, little is known about its long-term consequences. This study examines the relationship between adolescent LD and adult depressive symptoms, with a focus on gender differences and underlying mechanisms. Using a sibling sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 3,414), this study estimated sibling fixed effects models to account for unobserved family-level characteristics such as genes and early childhood family and social context. Sobel mediation analyses were conducted to examine social-psychological mechanisms, including the student-teacher relationship, the student-student relationship, and a sense of school belonging. LD in adolescence was positively associated with depressive symptoms in adulthood (b = 0.823, p < 0.05). This association remained robust when controlling for unobserved family-level confounders as well as educational attainment in adulthood. Gender-stratified models showed that only the association for women is statistically significant (b = 1.935, p < 0.05), and its magnitude is nearly three times that of the association for men. Sobel mediation tests indicate that a decline in a sense of school belonging mediates approximately 17% of the association between adolescent LD and adult depressive symptoms. This study's findings suggest that LD in adolescence is associated with an increase in depressive symptoms in adulthood, particularly in women, and a low sense of school belonging may be a potential mediator. Implementing interventions to improve the school integration of girls with LD could be an effective means of improving their long-term mental health.

Suggested Citation

  • Rim, Hyunseo & Son, Hyewon & Kim, Jinho, 2024. "From classroom to life: Gender differences in the persistent effect of learning disabilities on adult depressive symptoms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:349:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624003307
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116886
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Park, Hansol & Kim, Taehoon & Kim, Jinho, 2023. "Longitudinal pathways from adolescent depressive symptoms to cardiovascular disease risk in adulthood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    2. Kim, Jinho & Kim, Rockli & Oh, Hannah & Lippert, Adam M. & Subramanian, S.V., 2020. "Estimating the influence of adolescent delinquent behavior on adult health using sibling fixed effects," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    3. Kim, Taehoon & Kim, Jinho, 2020. "Linking adolescent future expectations to health in adulthood: Evidence and mechanisms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    4. Greg Duncan & Johanne Boisjoly & Kathleen Mullan Harris, 2001. "Sibling, peer, neighbor, and schoolmate correlations as indicators of the importance of context for adolescent development," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(3), pages 437-447, August.
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