Associations Between Teacher-Reported School Climate and Depressive Symptoms in Australian Adolescents: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study

School climate, school identification and student outcomes: A longitudinal investigation of student well-being

BACKGROUND

Schools are increasingly recognized as key facilitators of child and youth well-being. Much attention has been directed to the school social environment and the areas of school climate or school connectedness/identification. Drawing on the social identity approach and related work, it has been argued that school social identification may be the mechanism or process through which school climate comes to impact individual student functioning (Applied Psychology, 28, 2009, 171). Much of the previous research on social identity and well-being, though, is limited because it is cross-sectional.

AIMS, SAMPLE & METHODS

This current study aims to advance understanding of the relationships between school climate, school identification and positive and negative well-being. It adopts a three-wave longitudinal sample of Australian students (N = 6537 wave 3, grades 7-10) and incorporates a range of control variables. Multilevel modelling (MLM) is used to test relationships of interest.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

In line with predictions, school identification was a significant mediator of the relationship between school climate and the well-being dimensions of positive affect and depression (but not anxiety). The substantial theoretical and practical implications of this research are discussed, including the role of the school social environment in helping young people successfully transition to adulthood.

The role of school connectedness in the prevention of youth depression and anxiety: a systematic review with youth consultation

Background

School connectedness reflects the quality of students’ engagement with peers, teachers, and learning in the school environment. It has attracted attention from both the health and education sectors as a potentially modifiable protective factor for common mental health problems. However, the extent to which school connectedness may prevent the onset of youth depression or anxiety or promote their remission is unclear. This systematic review examined evidence for prospective relationships between school connectedness and depression and anxiety, and the effect of interventions to improve school connectedness on depression and anxiety.

Methods

We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and ERIC electronic databases for peer-reviewed quantitative longitudinal, or intervention studies published from 2011–21 in English examining relationships between school connectedness and anxiety and/or depression. Participants were 14–24 years old when depression and anxiety outcomes were assessed in any education setting in any country. We partnered with five youth advisers (aged 16–21 years) with lived experience of mental health problems and/or the schooling system in Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines to ensure that youth perspectives informed the review.

Results

Our search identified 3552 unique records from which 34 longitudinal and 2 intervention studies were ultimately included. Studies were primarily from the United States of America (69.4%). Depression and anxiety outcomes were first measured at 14 years old, on average. Most studies found a significant protective relationship between higher levels of school connectedness and depressive and/or anxiety symptoms; more measured depression than anxiety. A few studies found a non-significant relationship. Both intervention studies designed to increase school connectedness improved depression, one through improvements in self-esteem and one through improvements in relationships at school.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that school connectedness may be a novel target for the prevention of depression and anxiety. We were not able to determine whether improving school connectedness promotes remission in young people already experiencing depression and anxiety. More studies examining anxiety, diagnostic outcomes, and beyond North America are warranted, as well as intervention trials.

Trial registration

PROSPERO 2021 CRD42021270967.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-14364-6.

As pesquisas sobre o clima escolar e saúde no Brasil - uma revisão de escopo

Resumo Há muito se reconhece o papel da escola para a promoção da saúde e a prevenção de agravos entre crianças e adolescentes. Uma característica que pode afetar a saúde dos alunos, além do desenvolvimento, a aprendizagem e o rendimento escolar, e que vem sendo destacada na literatura internacional é o clima escolar. Entretanto, no Brasil, esse campo ainda conta relativamente com pouca pesquisa. Diante desse cenário, este estudo se propôs a descrever as características das pesquisas brasileiras sobre o clima escolar dando especial atenção aos métodos de medição do clima, aos temas relacionados e às pesquisas sobre as relações entre clima escolar e saúde no Brasil. Para tanto, realizamos uma revisão de escopo com teses e dissertações brasileiras desde 1987. Os resultados apontaram a predominância de estudos qualitativos, com dados de poucas escolas, grande variedade de estratégias e instrumentos utilizados para medição do clima, com destaque para o uso de questionários, escalas e entrevistas. Constatou-se também uma participação relativamente pequena do campo da saúde, sobretudo no que diz respeito à saúde do aluno.

Depressive Symptoms and Academic Achievement: The Role of Adolescents' Perceptions of Teachers' and Peers' Behaviors

This present study, using a longitudinal design, investigated how depressive symptoms are related to academic achievement and whether the perceptions of teachers' and peers' behaviors moderated this relation. A sample of 302 adolescents (60.10% girls, M_age  = 17.35) completed scales measuring the depressive symptoms and perception of their teachers' support/equity and peers' cooperation/cohesiveness behaviors at Time 1. The adolescents' average grades were also collected. The adolescents' depressive symptoms and average grades were measured again at Time 2. The results showed that depressive symptoms measured at Time 1 were negatively associated with academic achievement measured at Time 2. The adolescents' perception of their peers' cooperation/cohesiveness moderated the relation between depressive symptoms and academic achievement. The results' implications for educational practice are discussed.

School-Related and Individual Predictors of Subjective Well-Being and Academic Achievement

Recent research in the educational context has focused not only on academic achievement but also on subjective well-being (SWB) as both play a major role in students' lives. Whereas the determinants of academic achievement have been extensively investigated, little research has been conducted on school-related determinants of SWB in comparison with other students' characteristics. In the present cross-sectional study, we set out to investigate whether perceived school climate predicts school grades and SWB above and beyond other variables that are important for SWB and academic achievement. A sample of 767 8th and 9th grade students (n = 361 female adolescents; age: M = 14.07 years, SD = 0.92) completed measures of SWB, perceived school climate, test anxiety, self-efficacy, and interest. Grade point average (GPA) indicated students' academic achievement. Data were analyzed with latent structural equation models in which GPA and SWB were regressed on the school climate variables and students' characteristics. Results indicated that a positive school climate as well as self-efficacy and the worry component of test anxiety predicted SWB and/or GPA after all other variables were controlled for. Directions for future research and the importance of school climate variables on adolescents' SWB and academic achievement are discussed.