Family and school social capital, school burnout and academic achievement: a multilevel longitudinal analysis among Finnish pupils

P Lindfors,J Minkkinen,A Rimpelä,R Hotulainen

doi:10.1080/02673843.2017.1389758

Abstract

Research on the associations between family and school social capital, school burnout and academic achievement in adolescence is scarce and the results are inconclusive. We examined if family and school social capital at the age of 13 predicts lower school burnout and better academic achievement when graduating at the age of 16. Using data from 4467 Finnish adolescents from 117 schools and 444 classes a three-level multilevel analysis was executed. School social capital, the positive and supportive relationships between students and teachers, predicted lower school burnout and better academic achievement among students. Classmates’ family social capital had also significance for students’ academic achievement. Our results suggest that building school social capital is an important aspect of school health and education policies and practices.

Highlights

Social capital can be understood as a precondition for healthy social and cognitive development of children and adolescents (e.g. Coleman, 1988, 1990) and it comprises aspects of relationships, networks, norms and trust (Portes, 1988; Schaefer-McDaniel, 2004)
Intra-class correlations (ICC) of school burnout was .029 at the class level and .016 at the school level, indicating that 2.9 percent of the variation occurred across classes and 1.6 percent across schools. 9.2 percent of the variation of academic achievement occurred across classes and 8.6 percent across schools
Significant variance was found across classes and schools in the variables of school social capital, family social capital, school burnout and academic achievement in the seventh grade, and parents’ education

Summary

Introduction

Social capital can be understood as a precondition for healthy social and cognitive development of children and adolescents (e.g. Coleman, 1988, 1990) and it comprises aspects of relationships, networks, norms and trust (Portes, 1988; Schaefer-McDaniel, 2004). The transition from basic education to upper secondary education and training is one of the critical episodes of their life course. During these years, adolescents are becoming increasingly more independent and the demands on scholastic achievements are increased (Danielsen, Samdal, Hetland, & Wold, 2009). The ways in which the parents interact and invest in the relationships with their children may have significant influence on adolescents’ life paths (Dufur et al, 2013; Parcel, Dufur, & Zito, 2010). There is evidence that home and school contexts have significant impact both on students’ well-being and achievement and that students in better health have higher academic performance. We investigate whether school and family factors conceptualized as social capital predict better academic achievement and lower school burnout, one indicator of academic well-being, in a longitudinal design

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion