Lester Leanne, Cross Donna
Health Promotion Evaluation Unit, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA Australia.
Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA Australia.
Psychol Well Being. 2015;5(1):9. doi: 10.1186/s13612-015-0037-8. Epub 2015 Oct 22.
School climate has often been described as the "quality and character of school life", including both social and physical aspects of the school, that can positively promote behaviour, school achievement, and the social and emotional development of students.
The current study examined the relationship between students' mental and emotional wellbeing and factors pertaining to school climate, focussing on the domains of safety, social relationships and school connectedness, during the last year of their primary schooling (age 11-12 years) and their first 2 years of secondary school. Data was collected using a self-completion questionnaire, four times over 3 years from 1800 students' aged 11-14 years. Multilevel modelling was used to determine the strongest school climate predictor of students' mental and emotional wellbeing at each time point.
In the last year of primary school, peer support was the strongest predictor of wellbeing, while feeling less connected and less safe at school predicted mental wellbeing. Feeling safe at school was the strongest factor for student wellbeing in the first year of secondary school. In the second year of secondary school, peer support was the strongest factor for mental wellbeing, while feeling safe at school, feeling connected to school and having support from peers were predictive of emotional wellbeing.
School climate factors of feeling safe at school, feeling connected to school, and peer support are all protective of mental and emotional wellbeing over the transition period while connectedness to teachers is protective of emotional wellbeing. Primary school appears to be an important time to establish quality connections to peers who have a powerful role in providing support for one another before the transition to secondary school. However, school policies and practices promoting safety and encouraging and enabling connectedness are important during the first years of secondary school. Recommendations for effective school policy and practice in both primary and secondary schools to help enhance the mental and emotional wellbeing of adolescents are discussed.
学校氛围常被描述为“学校生活的质量和特质”，包括学校的社会和物质层面，能够积极促进学生的行为、学业成就以及社会和情感发展。
本研究考察了小学生最后一年（11 - 12岁）及初中头两年学生的心理和情绪健康与学校氛围相关因素之间的关系，重点关注安全、社会关系和学校归属感等领域。在3年时间里，通过自填问卷对1800名11 - 14岁的学生进行了4次数据收集。采用多层次模型来确定每个时间点上对学生心理和情绪健康影响最强的学校氛围预测因素。
在小学最后一年，同伴支持是幸福感最强的预测因素，而在学校感觉联系较少和安全感较低则预测心理健康。在初中第一年，在学校感到安全是学生幸福感的最强因素。在初中第二年，同伴支持是心理健康的最强因素，而在学校感到安全、与学校有联系以及得到同伴支持则可预测情绪健康。
在过渡阶段，在学校感到安全、与学校有联系以及同伴支持等学校氛围因素均对心理和情绪健康具有保护作用，而与教师的联系则对情绪健康具有保护作用。小学似乎是建立与同伴高质量联系的重要时期，在过渡到中学之前，同伴在相互支持方面发挥着重要作用。然而，在初中头几年，促进安全以及鼓励和实现联系的学校政策和做法很重要。本文讨论了中小学有效学校政策和实践的建议，以帮助提高青少年的心理和情绪健康。
