Family, peer and school connectedness in final year secondary school students

Abstract

The study aim was to investigate Australian Year 12 students' sense of connectedness to their schools, families, and peers, and examine associations between connectedness and emotional wellbeing. Year 12 students (492 male, 449 female) from 10 secondary schools in Victoria, Australia participated in Phase 1 of the study. Of these, 204 participants (82 male, 122 female) returned surveys 1 year later; 175 of these were attending tertiary education institutions. The study found high levels of depression, anxiety and stress among Year 12 students, with higher negative affect associated with lower levels of family, peer and school connectedness. Negative affect 1 year after leaving school was predicted by negative affect and peer connectedness at Year 12. Results suggest there are significant numbers of at-risk young people in their final year of school, who feel lonely and disconnected from peers, and who maintain concerning levels of depression, anxiety and stress in first year of university.

Social Connectedness Predicts Lower Loneliness and Depressive Symptoms over Time in Adolescents

“…Previous findings of social connectedness being negatively correlated with loneliness and depression concurrently have also been reported by several authors (e.g., Libbey et al, 2002). Longitudinal studies examining the link between multiple aspects of connectedness and adolescents wellbeing are still lacking, but existing literature (Costello et al, 2008;Hall-Lande et al, 2007;Jose et al, 2012;McGraw et al, 2008;Olsson et al, 2013) has identified a positive impact of social connectedness on adolescent's loneliness and depression. In the present study, we found, in line with the findings from other longitudinal studies, significant longitudinal correlations between social connectedness, loneliness and depression in the expected directions.…”

“…When gender differences were examined, they found that family connectedness was the only protective factor for suicide attempts in adolescent females, whereas family connectedness, school achievement, and school connectedness buffered adolescent males against the negative impact of loneliness. A study by McGraw et al (2008) in the same vein found that social connectedness across family, peers, and school domains was inversely associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. Moreover, peer connectedness was a particularly strong predictor of wellbeing.…”

Adolescents' perceptions of the words “health” and “happy”

“…When asked what influences how happy they feel, the students talked of their friends and family, exhibiting the strong and vital connection between social relations and happiness (Konu et al, 2002;Rathi and Rastogi, 2007;Bjørnskov, 2008). A sense of connectedness and belonging is known to be crucial for mental well-being, enabling young people to develop resilience and coping skills (Tusaie et al, 2007;Goldstein and Brooks, 2004;WHO, 2007;McGraw et al, 2008). All of the students made reference to attempting to make their friends feel better if they were not happy, reflecting degrees of empathy, a critical element in emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1996).…”

Socio-emotional Key Competencies: Can they be measured and what do they relate to?

“…Students who have good communication skills can interpret and read others' feelings and situations well, are sensitive towards others and tend to have better relationships with teachers and peers, which may then be related to greater school connectedness (e.g., Mcgraw, Moore, Fuller, & Bates, 2008).…”