Perceptions of School Climate Shape Adolescent Health Behavior: A Longitudinal Multischool Study

Michelle Y Ko¹, Sofia M Rosenberg², Benjamin P L Meza³, Rebecca N Dudovitz⁴, Kulwant K Dosanjh⁵, Mitchell D Wong⁶

Affiliations

¹ Medical Student, (MYKo@mednet.ucla.edu), David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
² Undergraduate Student, (sofro@umich.edu), Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
³ Assistant Professor of Medicine (bpmeza@mednet.ucla.edu), Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Associate Professor of Pediatrics, (rdudovitz@mednet.ucla.edu), Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and Children's Discovery and Innovation Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁵ Project Director, (KDosanjh@mednet.ucla.edu), Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁶ Professor of Medicine, (mitchellwong@mednet.ucla.edu), Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PMID: 36404628
PMCID: PMC10175101
DOI: 10.1111/josh.13274

Perceptions of School Climate Shape Adolescent Health Behavior: A Longitudinal Multischool Study

Michelle Y Ko et al. J Sch Health. 2023 Jun.

. 2023 Jun;93(6):475-484.

doi: 10.1111/josh.13274. Epub 2022 Nov 20.

Authors

Michelle Y Ko¹, Sofia M Rosenberg², Benjamin P L Meza³, Rebecca N Dudovitz⁴, Kulwant K Dosanjh⁵, Mitchell D Wong⁶

Affiliations

¹ Medical Student, (MYKo@mednet.ucla.edu), David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
² Undergraduate Student, (sofro@umich.edu), Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
³ Assistant Professor of Medicine (bpmeza@mednet.ucla.edu), Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Associate Professor of Pediatrics, (rdudovitz@mednet.ucla.edu), Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and Children's Discovery and Innovation Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁵ Project Director, (KDosanjh@mednet.ucla.edu), Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁶ Professor of Medicine, (mitchellwong@mednet.ucla.edu), Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PMID: 36404628
PMCID: PMC10175101
DOI: 10.1111/josh.13274

Abstract

Background: Adolescent behaviors and academic outcomes are thought to be shaped by school climate. We sought to identify longitudinal associations between school climate measures and downstream health and academic outcomes.

Methods: Data from a longitudinal survey of public high school students in Los Angeles were analyzed. Eleventh-grade health and academic outcomes (dependent variables, eg, substance use, delinquency, risky sex, bullying, standardized exams, college matriculation), were modeled as a function of 10th-grade school climate measures (independent variables: institutional environment, student-teacher relationships, disciplinary style), controlling for baseline outcome measures and student/parental covariates.

Results: The 1114 student respondents (87.8% retention), were 46% male, 90% Latinx, 87% born in the United States, and 40% native English speakers. Greater school order and teacher respect for students were associated with lower odds of multiple high risk behaviors including 30-day alcohol use (odds ratio [OR] 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.72, 0.92] and OR 0.73; [0.62, 0.85]) and 30-day cannabis use (OR 0.74; [0.59, 0.91] and OR 0.76; [0.63, 0.92]). Neglectful disciplinary style was associated with multiple poor health and academic outcomes while permissive disciplinary style was associated with favorable academic outcomes.

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: School health practitioners may prospectively leverage school environment, teacher-student relationships, and disciplinary style to promote health and learning.

Conclusions: Our findings identify specific modifiable aspects of the school environment with critical implications for life course health.

Keywords: adolescent health; bullying; cannabis; educational measurement; longitudinal studies; risk-taking; school climate; substance use.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

1. Gutman LM, Schoon I. The Impact of Non-Cognitive Skills on Outcomes for Young People. A Literature Review Education Endowment Foundation; 2013. Accessed November 21, 2021. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/evidence-...
1. Avenevoli S, Swendsen J, He JP, Burstein M, Merikangas KR. Major Depression in the National Comorbidity Survey–Adolescent Supplement: Prevalence, Correlates, and Treatment. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2015;54(1):37–44.e2. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2014.10.010 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Kim-Cohen J, Caspi A, Moffitt TE, Harrington H, Milne BJ, Poulton R. Prior juvenile diagnoses in adults with mental disorder: developmental follow-back of a prospective-longitudinal cohort. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003;60(7):709–717. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.60.7.709 - DOI - PubMed
1. Miller ML, Hurd YL. Testing the Gateway Hypothesis. Neuropsychopharmacology 2017;42(5):985–986. doi:10.1038/npp.2016.279 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Jessor R Problem-Behavior Theory, Psychosocial Development, and Adolescent Problem Drinking. Br J Addict 1987;82(4):331–342. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.1987.tb01490.x - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Actions
Actions

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Perceptions of School Climate Shape Adolescent Health Behavior: A Longitudinal Multischool Study

Affiliations

Perceptions of School Climate Shape Adolescent Health Behavior: A Longitudinal Multischool Study

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical