Participation and support – associations with Swedish pupils’ positive health

Abstract

From the perspective of salutogenesis, schools have opportunities to create supportive environments for health and well-being, but there is a need for more knowledge about positive health determinants in the school setting. The aim of this study was to analyse adolescents’ self-reported positive health and its association with supportive factors in the school environment. Data was derived from a cross-sectional study in which pupils were aged 12–16 (n=1527). A positive health scale was used to examine the association of positive health with the following determinants: classroom participation; teacher support; peer support; parental support; and personal relative affluence. Data was analysed with multiple logistic regression. The results showed that positive health was associated with classroom participation and support from teachers and parents more commonly among boys than girls. All determinants were significantly associated with pupils’ positive health. The conclusion is that students’ positive health is strongly associated with support from the school. Classroom participation and support are major concerns for the health of pupils, and it is essential to develop these aspects of the school environment.

A photovoice study of school belongingness among high school students in Norway

“…The importance of having social support from the environment was expressed in the students’ narrations and photos in different ways and seemed to reinforce a sense of being a part of something greater. These results are in line with previous cross-sectional and longitudinal studies examining the relation between teacher and peer social support and school engagement, connectedness to school and self-reported positive health [34–36]. A supportive environment seems also to have impacted on the students supporting each other, highlighting the importance of the school’s influence on processes of friendship.…”

Positive self-reported health might be an important determinant of student's experiences of high school in northern Sweden

“…The items were summarised to an index ranging from 0 to 12 (Cronbach Alpha 0.780) [42]. Based on the distribution of responses and in line with Warne et al [16], the scale was dichotomised by dividing into tertiles. The highest tertile indicated positive mental health and the cut-off point was set at 10 (coded 1).…”

“…Internal consistency was measured by Cronbach's Alpha. The association between positive health and experiences of school was analysed by logistic regression, presented as crude and adjusted positive odds ratios (POR) (16). The multivariate model was adjusted for geographical location.…”

“…How students experience school has been described as important for achievement and study results [13]. Also, health is related to a diverse number of experiences at school [14][15][16]. More specific health aspects, such as mental health, body image, physical activity and sleep, have been shown to be related to all school experiences, performance and results [5,[17][18][19].…”

“…Although many years have passed since the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, it is still common to study health by considering only pathogens, even when it comes to health promotion at school [35,36]. Furthermore, there is a lack of studies focusing on students positive self-reported health [16,33]. Moreover, the core business of school is focused on educational outcomes rather than the reduction of health problems [37].…”