Department of Public Health, Environments and Society, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2019 Jun;73(6):502-508. doi: 10.1136/jech-2018-211866. Epub 2019 Feb 23.
The theory of human functioning and school organisation proposes that schools with rigid 'boundaries' (weaker relationships), for example, between staff and students, or learning and broader development, engender weaker student school commitment and sense of belonging, particularly among disadvantaged students, leading to greater involvement in risk-behaviours. Existing studies provide some support but rely on a proxy exposure of 'value-added education' and have not explored effects by disadvantage.
We used longitudinal data from English secondary schools from the control arm of a trial, assessing school-level measures of rigid boundaries, and student commitment and belonging at age 11/12, and student risk-behaviours at age 14/15.
Our direct measures were more strongly associated with risk-behaviours than was value-added education. School-level rigid boundaries were associated with increased alcohol use and bullying. Student belonging was more consistently associated with reduced risk-behaviours than was student commitment. Some school effects were greater for students from disadvantaged subgroups defined in terms of poverty, ethnicity and family structure.
Our results provide direct support for the theory of human functioning and school organisation and suggest a sense of belonging in school might be particularly protective factor among secondary school students. School effects on risk are generally stronger among disadvantaged students as theorised.
ISRCTN10751359.
人类功能理论和学校组织理论提出，学校具有僵化的“边界”（关系较弱），例如教职员工与学生之间，或学习与更广泛的发展之间的关系较弱，会导致学生对学校的承诺感和归属感较弱，尤其是在处境不利的学生中，从而导致更多地参与风险行为。现有研究提供了一些支持，但依赖于“增值教育”的代理暴露，并且没有探讨劣势的影响。
我们使用了来自英国中学试验对照组的纵向数据，评估了学校层面僵化边界的措施，以及 11/12 岁时学生的承诺感和归属感，以及 14/15 岁时学生的风险行为。
我们的直接测量指标与风险行为的相关性比增值教育更强烈。学校层面的僵化边界与饮酒和欺凌行为增加有关。与学生承诺相比，学生归属感与减少风险行为的相关性更为一致。对于根据贫困、族裔和家庭结构等因素定义的处境不利亚组学生，一些学校效应更大。
我们的研究结果为人类功能理论和学校组织理论提供了直接支持，并表明学生在学校的归属感可能是中学生的一个特别保护因素。如理论所假设的那样，学校对风险的影响在处境不利的学生中通常更强。
ISRCTN64440233。
