Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania.
Population Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania.
J Rural Health. 2018 Jun;34(3):322-332. doi: 10.1111/jrh.12296. Epub 2018 Feb 16.
Few prior studies have examined change in emotional health of high school students in a rural context. Considering the multifaceted nature of emotional health, this research aims to identify the patterns and explore change and stability of the emotional health of rural Pennsylvania youth. It also investigates the influence of family, peers, school, and the community environment on rural adolescents' emotional health.
Using panel data from the Rural Youth Education Project, we employed latent transition analysis to examine changes in patterns of rural students' self-reported emotional health from 9 grade to 11 grade (N = 1,294).
Four distinct emotional health subgroups for rural adolescents were identified. Over half of the youth in the sample felt emotionally well, or positive, in both 9 and 11 grades. Roughly 60% of rural youth remained in the same emotional health category from 9 to 11 grade, but a substantial minority experienced change in emotional health. One-fifth reported lower emotional health status in 11 grade, and one-fifth indicated more positive emotions in 11 than in 9 grade. We found strong evidence of family, school, community, and peer influences on the emotional health of rural youth in 9 grade.
The results suggest that while a large share of rural youth exhibit positive emotional health and remain positive across their high school years, a substantial share of rural youth experience changing emotional health. The study underscores the important role that family, peers, school, and the community environment play for rural youth's emotional health over time.
先前很少有研究考察过农村背景下高中生情绪健康的变化。考虑到情绪健康的多面性，本研究旨在确定模式，并探索宾夕法尼亚州农村青少年情绪健康的变化和稳定性。它还调查了家庭、同伴、学校和社区环境对农村青少年情绪健康的影响。
利用农村青年教育项目的面板数据，我们采用潜在转变分析来研究农村学生自我报告的情绪健康从 9 年级到 11 年级的模式变化（N = 1,294）。
确定了四个不同的农村青少年情绪健康亚组。样本中超过一半的青少年在 9 年级和 11 年级都感到情绪良好或积极。大约 60%的农村青少年从 9 年级到 11 年级保持在相同的情绪健康类别，但相当一部分青少年经历了情绪健康的变化。五分之一的人报告在 11 年级情绪健康状况较低，五分之一的人表示在 11 年级比 9 年级情绪更积极。我们发现家庭、学校、社区和同伴对农村青少年 9 年级情绪健康有很强的影响。
研究结果表明，尽管很大一部分农村青少年表现出积极的情绪健康，并在整个高中阶段保持积极，但相当一部分农村青少年经历了情绪健康的变化。该研究强调了家庭、同伴、学校和社区环境在农村青少年情绪健康方面随着时间的推移所起的重要作用。
