Child Disability Spillovers on Schoolmates’ Adolescent Wellbeing. Evidence from U.S. Middle and High Schools

Silvia Palmaccio
Nicoletta Balbo, Bocconi University

Creating an inclusive school environment, where students with disabilities are integrated as much as possible with students without disabilities, has become a central objective in educational policies worldwide.Despite this trend, however, empirical evidence on the effects of exposure to peers with disabilities remains limited. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we examine child disability spillover effects on internalizing and externalizing behavioral outcomes of students in middle and high school (grades 7-12) in the United States. To address potential endogeneity, we employ a quasi-experimental research design and exploit within-school, betweengrade variation in peer composition. Our results show that exposure to peers with physical disabilities is reflected in students without disabilities’ increased internalizing problems, with no effects on externalizing problems. No spillover effects are found for learning disabilities. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that students without disabilities socialize the emotional and social challenges experienced by their peers with disabilities. We also find that the effects are substantially mitigated in schools where emotional counseling is provided, suggesting that emotional counseling and the factors influencing its provision may play a key role in promoting a healthier and more inclusive classroom environment for all students.

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 Presented in Session 115. Childhood Conditions and Human Capital Formation