Stacey Waters

Social and Ecological Structures Supporting Adolescent Connectedness to School: A Theoretical Model.

BACKGROUND Adolescence is a time of great change. For most young people, this is a healthy and happy experience; however, for some it is characterized by many health, social, and academic challenges. A students feeling of connectedness to school helps meet these challenges. Little is known, however, about the school characteristics that promote this connection and, more importantly, how this connection occurs. This article reviews the connectedness literature and integrates health promotion, adolescent development, and ecological frameworks to describe how a school context fosters this connection. METHOD A systematic search and review process was used to retrieve scholarly articles pertaining to the research topic. RESULTS Each retrieved article was summarized, and a subsequent model was developed to define a school ecology and describe how this ecology influences a students need to feel connected to school and the positive influence this connection has on adolescent health and well-being. CONCLUSIONS Integrating developmental, ecological, and health promotion intervention theories and frameworks assists in the identification of interpersonal and organizational aspects of a school environment, which satisfy an individuals needs to feel autonomous, competent, and connected, and to improve health and well-being outcomes for adolescents.

Three‐year results of the Friendly Schools whole‐of‐school intervention on children’s bullying behaviour

A group randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of the Friendly Schools program to reduce student bullying behaviour. This socio‐ecological intervention targeted the whole school, classroom, family, and individual students to reduce bullying behaviour. Self‐report data were collected in 29 schools over three years from a cohort of 1968 eight to nine‐year‐olds. Surveys measured frequency of being bullied, bullying others, telling if bullied and observing bullying. Results indicate that intervention students were significantly less likely to observe bullying at 12, 24 and 36 months and be bullied after 12 and 36 months, and significantly more likely to tell if bullied after 12 months than comparison students. No differences were found for self‐reported perpetration of bullying. The findings suggest whole‐of‐school programs that engage students in their different social contexts appear to reduce their experiences of being bullied and increase their likelihood of telling someone if they are bullied.

The Forms of Bullying Scale (FBS): validity and reliability estimates for a measure of bullying victimization and perpetration in adolescence

The study of bullying behavior and its consequences for young people depends on valid and reliable measurement of bullying victimization and perpetration. Although numerous self-report bullying-related measures have been developed, robust evidence of their psychometric properties is scant, and several limitations inhibit their applicability. The Forms of Bullying Scale (FBS), with versions to measure bullying victimization (FBS-V) and perpetration (FBS-P), was developed on the basis of existing instruments, for use with 12- to 15-year-old adolescents to economically, yet comprehensively measure both bullying perpetration and victimization. Measurement properties were estimated. Scale validity was tested using data from 2 independent studies of 3,496 Grade 8 and 783 Grade 8-10 students, respectively. Construct validity of scores on the FBS was shown in confirmatory factor analysis. The factor structure was not invariant across gender. Strong associations between the FBS-V and FBS-P and separate single-item bullying items demonstrated adequate concurrent validity. Correlations, in directions as expected with social-emotional outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, conduct problems, and peer support), provided robust evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Responses to the FBS items were found to be valid and concurrently reliable measures of self-reported frequency of bullying victimization and perpetration, as well as being useful to measure involvement in the different forms of bullying behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Transition to secondary school: Expectation versus experience

Adolescence is a time of great physical, emotional and social development complicated by a key organisational change in schooling. This study investigated what young people in primary school reported being worried about with their impending move to secondary school, and how their expectations of the transition experience predicted their actual experience. A sample of 2078 students aged 12–13 years enrolled to attend 20 Perth metropolitan Catholic secondary schools was invited to complete two surveys six months apart, the first at the end of Grade 7, followed by Term 1 of Grade 8. The data indicate one half of all Grade 7 students anticipate a positive transition experience, yet almost 70% of students in Grade 8 report the transition was a positive experience for them, with boys reporting a more positive transition experience overall. Moreover, students who expected a positive transition were more than three times more likely to report an actual positive transition experience. These findings and information about what boys and girls are most looking forward to or worried about at secondary school are presented and implications for future interventions explored.

How Does Support From Peers Compare With Support From Adults as Students Transition to Secondary School

PURPOSE Understanding how young people navigate the transition from primary to secondary school is critical for preventing the adverse mental health, social, and academic outcomes associated with a difficult transition. This study sought to determine from whom young people receive support before the transition period to help inform the development of future intervention research testing, as well as peer, school, and family-based supports during transition. METHODS Data were collected from 1,974 primary school students prior to the transition and again in Term 1 of the first year of secondary school. Students were asked about their expectation of the transition as well as their support from peers, family, and the school. Just over half (52%) of the sample were females with a mean age of 12 years. RESULTS Peer, school, and family supports all predicted positive student transition experiences. When in Grade 7 and considering all predictors together, a high level of perceived peer support was the most significant predictor of an expectation of an easy or somewhat easy transition. In Grade 8, again after considering all sources of support, parental presence was the most significant protective predictor of an easy or somewhat easy transition experience. CONCLUSIONS Students who expect and experience a positive transition to secondary school are generally well-supported by their peers, school, and family. The most stable influence for young people over the transition period is the presence of families before and after school and future intervention efforts to support young people during transition need to build support from families.

How Important Are School and Interpersonal Student Characteristics in Determining Later Adolescent School Connectedness, by School Sector?.

The extent to which students feel connected to their school is a powerful predictor of many health, social and academic outcomes. These outcomes are also influenced by other factors including characteristics of the school such as its size, policies and practices, but how do these characteristics modify the relationship between a student and his or her later school connectedness? This article draws on Western Australian data describing 5159 students from 39 schools who were tracked for the first two years of their secondary schooling. Controlling for interpersonal predictors of adolescent connectedness, the extent to which school characteristics, represented by school sector, modified later school connectedness was assessed using random intercept multi-level models. Significant interactions between school and individual student characteristics of interpersonal relationships as well as mental health were found for later school connectedness, suggesting the sector to which a school belongs influences a students sense of connectedness to school.