Pupil Mental Health, Concerns and Expectations About Secondary School as Predictors of Adjustment Across the Transition to Secondary School: A Longitudinal Multi-informant Study

Abstract

The transition from primary to secondary schooling is challenging and involves a degree of apprehension. The extent to which pre-existing mental health difficulties, as well as pupil, parent, and teacher concerns and expectations about secondary school predict adaptation to secondary school, is unclear. In a three-wave, prospective longitudinal study, we examined associations between pre-transition concerns and expectations about moving to secondary school with mental health difficulties and demographic factors. We then evaluated whether these constructs predicted multiple indicators of adaptive pupil functioning at the end of the first year of secondary school (academic attainment, classmate behaviour rating, school liking and loneliness at school). We found children’s concerns reduced across the transition period. Concurrent associations were identified between both concerns about secondary school and lower parent and teacher expectations that children would settle in well at secondary school, with mental health difficulties and special educational needs. Investigating associations with multiple indicators of adaptive functioning at secondary school, multivariable regression analyses controlling for a range of baseline factors (e.g. special educational needs), found children’s concerns about secondary school to be specifically associated with loneliness. In contrast, children’s mental health difficulties and both parent and teacher expectations of how well children would settle into secondary school were associated with a wider range of indicators of adaptive functioning at secondary school. When examining all predictors simultaneously, primary school teacher expectations showed longitudinal association with a wide range of indicators of successful transition. These findings suggest that assessing primary school teacher expectations may be useful for monitoring and supporting pupils through this transition period and could usefully inform school-based interventions to support transition and mental health.

The effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Students' Well-being and Resilience

“…well-being (Rice et al, 2021). On the other hand, the age of adolescence is mentioned in studies as a period in which the most disturbances occur due to the biological, psychological and social changes that accompany it, which can trigger both internal and external conflicts, representing in this sense factors of risk for adolescent mental health) (García-Carrión et al, 2019;Triana et al, 2019).…”

Mental health and life satisfaction among 10–11-year-olds in Wales, before and one year after onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Pupils were asked to select a response on a 5 point Likert scale to two questions about the forthcoming transition to secondary school, adapted from a survey by Rice and colleagues [ 28 ]. The first asked children to rate the extent to which they were looking forward to transitioning.…”

“…Following school closures, many young people will have experienced major educational transitions, such as moving to secondary school [ 5 ], having missed several months of in-person schooling in the previous 2 school years. Life course events such as transition provide important opportunities for adaptive, and maladaptive, social development depending on how they are experienced [ 28 ]. Our primary school survey in Wales in 2019 found that prior to the pandemic, most Year 6 children reported looking forward to transitioning to secondary school, often accompanied by significant worries [ 5 ].…”

Child Self-Report Measures of Primary-Secondary Transition Experiences and Emotional Wellbeing: An International Systematic Literature Review

“…Rice et al, 2011) • lead to emotional difficulties or problems (n = 4; e.g. Rice et al, 2021) • impacting emotional health (n = 1; e.g. Waters et al, 2012) • long term negative implications for mental health problems/concerns, such as anxiety or depressive symptoms (n = 4; e.g.…”

“…This identifies a gap in the literature, with the need to develop a more up-to-date measure; this is highlighted by the seven articles within the systematic review that all used Thomasson et al's (2006) pre-existing School Concerns Questionnaire (SCQ). Very recently one article within our review (Rice et al, 2021) adapted this scale to include three additional items (losing old friends, discipline and detentions, getting lost) reflecting the three most frequently reported additional concerns described by children in previous research (Rice et al, 2011).…”