Examining Temporal Associations Between School Connectedness and Early Adolescent Adjustment

Abstract

This study examined (a) the associations between school connectedness and early adolescent adjustment problems over a 1 year period and (b) the equivalence of these associations across gender. Five hundred middle school students (53.4% female), initially in the 6th and 7th grades, participated in the two-wave study. Results from two-group cross-lagged panel analyses were consistent across boys' and girls' data. After controlling for baseline levels of adjustment problems, school connectedness predicted lower levels of early adolescent conduct problems 1 year later. Regarding the opposite direction of associations, and even after baseline levels of school connectedness were taken into account, conduct problems predicted lower levels of subsequent school connectedness. There were no cross-lagged associations between depressive symptoms and school connectedness, although elevated levels of baseline depressive symptoms predicted higher levels of subsequent conduct problems. Findings elaborate previous research by demonstrating that early adolescents actively shape the middle school environment.

Relation of peer effects and school climate to substance use among Asian American adolescents

“…When young people receive empathy and attention in a consistent fashion, they feel valued. These experiences generate a sense of belonging which, in turn, leads to increased engagement and academic motivation (Loukas, Ripperger-Suhler, & Horton, 2009). In addition to theory, empirical research increasingly supports the necessity to develop effective learning environments that are sensitive to the needs of the participants.…”

School Belongingness and Mental Health Functioning across the Primary-Secondary Transition in a Mainstream Sample: Multi-Group Cross-Lagged Analyses

“…For example, Shocket and colleagues [40] found that early adolescents’ perception of school belongingness predicted future depressive symptoms in boys and girls; anxiety in girls; and conduct problems in boys. Other studies suggest bidirectional relationships between these constructs, which vary depending on the type of mental health domain being measured [41]. Loukas and colleagues [41] presented evidence of a bidirectional loop between school belongingness and conduct problems, but not depressive symptoms in 10–14 year old typically developing youth [41].…”

Estudio longitudinal del efecto de primacía entre depresión y agresión física y verbal en una muestra infanto-adolescente

“…Que la agresión se muestre predictiva de la depresión indica la importancia para el diagnóstico de lo que Cytryn y McKew (1972) etiquetaron como depresión enmascarada. Se trata de una depresión que aparece frecuentemente en la infancia y que enmascara lo que algunos autores han denominado equivalentes depresivos, entre los que destacan conductas problemá-ticas, tales como somatizaciones, delincuencia, agresividad e irritabilidad (Loukas, Ripperger-Suhler, & Horton, 2009;Mitchell, Varley, & McCauley, 1988).…”