아동․청소년의 차별 경험과 개인․환경 요인의 관계: 초4, 중1, 고1 시점별 비교를 중심으로

The Relationship Between Discrimination Experiences and Individual-Environmental Factors in Children and Adolescents

This longitudinal study examined developmental variation in perceived discrimination from childhood to adolescence and Individual and environmental correlates. Using data from the Gyeonggi Education Panel Study (GEPS), we analyzed a cohort of 2,550 students who were followed from the fourth grade of elementary school to the first year of high school. Discrimination was assessed annually across the four domains of academic performance, socioeconomic status (SES), physical appearance, and family structure. The individual and environmental variables used here were self-concept, self-esteem, mental health, parenting, parental attachment, peer relationships, class engagement and comprehension, and teacher-student relationships. The primary analyses comprised Repeated Measures ANOVA for developmental trends and logistic regression analyses to identify predictors. Academic-performance-based discrimination remained consistently high, whereas SES-based, physical appearance-based, and family structure-based discrimination showed significant developmental variations. Discrimination was negatively associated with class comprehension, supportive parenting, self-related variables, and positive relationships with peers and teachers, and was positively associated with disruptive classroom behavior and poor mental health. Notably, poor mental health and insufficient parental supervision emerged as consistent predictors across waves. The findings here underscore the need for developmentally tailored prevention and intervention strategies.