School segregation, selective education, and adolescents’ alcohol use – is there a connection?

Figures & data

Figure 1. Effects related to selection between special emphasis classes and regular classes (H2, H3) on alcohol use.

Figure 2. Effects related to studying in special emphasis classes versus regular classes (contextual effects) on alcohol use (H3, H4).

Table 1. The prevalence of heavy episodic drinking and the background factors according to class type, % (weighted) with p(chisq).

Helsinki-Uusimaa	All	Selective classes	Non-selective classes	p (chisq) CS procedure
	N(students) = 1738 N(classes) = 107 N(schools) = 78	N(students) = 271 N(classes) = 14 N(schools) = 11	N(students) = 1467 N(classes) = 93 N(schools) = 71
Individual-level
HED during past 30 days	19.8%	11.5%	21.3%	.01
Highly educated parents	40.0%	49.8%	38.2%	.036
Gender, girls	50.7%	55.7%	49.7%	.453
GPA >8,5	48.2%	59.5%	46.1%	.048
Aims at secondary school	75.3%	83.7%	73.8%	.089
Heavy alcohol use by peers	60.5%	54.4%	61.6%	.108
Class-level
Class composition (>35% of students from highly educated families)	49.5%	71.4%	46.2%	.079

Table 2. Linear probability models for adolescents’ heavy episodic drinking during the past 30 days (parameter estimates with standard errors), uncontrolled and controlled for the other background variables.

Helsinki-Uusimaa (N = 1368)	HED 30
Controlled variables	-	Highly educated parents	GPA	Heavy alcohol use by peers	Highly educated parents + GPA	Mediators	Class composition	Highly educated parents, GPA + class composition	All
Intercept	-	0.216 (.026)	0.270 (0.026)	0.030 (.018)	0.270 (.028)	.105 (.026)	.188 (.026)	0.244 (.029)	0.086 (.029)
Class type	−0.084** (0.031)	−0.079** (0.029)	−0.068 * (0.030)	−0.062 ^ns (0.032)	−0.068* (0.030)	−0.050 ^ns (0.028)	−0.089** (0.032)	−0.082* (0.031)	−0.061* (0.029)
GPA >8.5	−0.191*** (0.027)		−0.188*** (0.027)		−0.188*** (0.027)	−0.151*** (0.026)		−0.196*** (0.028)	−0.158*** (0.027)
Highly educated parents	−0.056* (0.025)	−0.052* (0.024)			−0.001^ns (0.024)	−0.006 (0.021)		−0.013^ns (0.023)	−0.017^ns (0.021)
Heavy alcohol use by peers	0.263*** (0.024)			0.260*** (0.024)		0.238*** (0.023)			0.236*** (0.023)
Class composition (>35% from HE families)	0.002^ns (.026)						0.016^ns (0.026)	0.060* (0.027)	0.046^ns (0.028)

***p < 0.001.

**p < 0.01.

*p < 0.05.

Standard errors are presented in parentheses. All models are gender-controlled.

Table 3. Direct and indirect effects of class type, parental education, GPA and friends’ alcohol use on adolescents’ heavy episodic drinking in the past 30 days.

	Heavy alcohol use by peers	GPA >8,5	Highly educated parents	All
	HED 30	HED 30	HED 30	HED 30
Class type and mediator (a)	−0.085 (0.060)	0.087 (0.060)	0.112 (0.054)
Mediator and HED30 (b)	0.260 (0.024)	−0.188 (0.027)	−0.052 (0.024)
Indirect effect ($\widehat{\mathrm{ab}}$)	−0.022	−0.016	−0.006	0.034
Direct effect ($\widehat{c{}^{\mathrm{\prime }}}$)	−0.062 (0.032)	−0.068 (0.030)	−0.079 (0.029)	−0.050 (0.028)
The mediated proportion ($\widehat{\mathrm{ab}}$/($\widehat{\mathrm{ab}}$ + $\hat{c}$’))	26%	19%	7%	40%

Note: (1) The cumulative indirect effect percentage for all mediators was calculated by using the formula c-c’, in which c refers to total (gender-controlled) effect of class type on HED. (2) Gender is controlled in all models. (3) In case of parental education, the causality is reversed between class type and mediator.