Educational researchers and practitioners assert that supportive school and classroom climates can positively influence the academic outcomes of students, thus potentially reducing academic achievement gaps between students and schools of different socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Nonetheless, scientific evidence establishing directional links and mechanisms between SES, school climate, and academic performance is inconclusive. This comprehensive review of studies dating back to the year 2000 examined whether a positive climate can successfully disrupt the associations between low SES and poor academic achievement. Positive climate was found to mitigate the negative contribution of weak SES background on academic achievement; however, most studies do not provide a basis for deducing a directional influence and causal relations. Additional research is encouraged to establish the nature of impact positive climate has on academic achievement and a multifaceted body of knowledge regarding the multilevel climate dimensions related to academic achievement.

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This study describes the relationship between military sexual assault (MSA) and various health and behavioral outcomes among a community-based sample of male (n ϭ 2,208) and female (n ϭ 327) veterans. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship of MSA with physical health symptoms (PHQ-15), probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; PCL) and depression (PHQ-9), risk-taking behaviors, and alcohol use (AUDIT-C) among men and women. Among the sample, 4.8% of male and 40.6% of female veterans reported experiencing MSA. Men who experienced MSA had approximately 4 times the odds of physical health symptoms, and probable PTSD and depression, compared with those without MSA (p Ͻ .001 for all). Male veterans also had significantly increased odds of taking unnecessary health risks (p Ͻ .001), risking a sexually transmitted disease (STD; p ϭ .005), driving while intoxicated (p ϭ .022), taking unnecessary life risks (p Ͻ .001), and using tobacco (p ϭ .012) in the last year if they had experienced MSA. Women who experienced MSA had approximately double the odds of physical health symptoms (p ϭ .002), 3 times the odds of depressive symptoms (p Ͻ .001), and almost 7 times the odds of probable PTSD (p Ͻ .001). Female veterans with MSA also had significantly greater odds of taking unnecessary health risks (p ϭ .003), taking unnecessary life risks (p ϭ .001), and using tobacco (p ϭ .003) in the last year than those without MSA. These findings highlight the unique treatment needs of male and female victims of MSA, the potential long-term impact of MSA, and the need for timely assessment of MSA to help mitigate negative health outcomes among veterans.

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