Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov 1;53(8):1400-1415.
doi: 10.1177/0044118X20970232. Epub 2020 Nov 4.

School Climate, Peer Relationships, and Adolescent Mental Health: A Social Ecological Perspective

Emily Long  1 , Claudia Zucca  1 , Helen Sweeting  1
Affiliations

School Climate, Peer Relationships, and Adolescent Mental Health: A Social Ecological Perspective

Emily Long et al. Youth Soc. .

Abstract

The current study investigated peer relationship and school climate factors associated with adolescent mental health. Cross-sectional data from 2,571 fifteen-year old students in 22 Scottish secondary schools was used. Multilevel models tested for school differences in mental health, and nested linear regression models estimated peer and school effects. Results demonstrated no significant between-school variation in mental health. Peer victimization was the only peer effect associated with mental health. School-belonging, student-teacher relationships, and a perceived inclusive school climate were associated with better mental health, whereas a perceived school climate of exam pressure was associated with worse mental health. The findings highlight multiple aspects of school climate that could be targeted in school-based interventions for adolescent mental health.

Keywords: adolescents; mental health; peers; school climate.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Bevilacqua L., Hale D., Barker E., Viner R. (2017). Conduct problem trajectories and psychosocial outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Adolescent Psychiatry, 27(10), 1239–1260. - PubMed
    1. Bowker A., Ramsay K. (2016). Friendship characteristics. In Levesque R. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of adolescence (pp. 1080–1086). Springer.
    1. Byrne D., Davenport S., Mazanov J. (2007). Profiles of adolescent stress: The development of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ). Journal of Adolescence, 30(3), 393–416. - PubMed
    1. Clayborne Z., Varin M., Colman I. (2019). Systematic review and meta-analysis: Adolescent depression and long-term psychosocial outcomes. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(1), 72–79. - PubMed
    1. Currie C., Molcho M., Boyce W., Holstein B., Torsheim T., Richter M. (2008). Researching health inequalities in adolescents: The development of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) Family Affluence Scale. Social Science & Medicine, 66(6), 1429–1436. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources