Year-end Sale % OFF 
Abstract
Knowledge about factors in school that can promote adolescents’ mental health is of great value for national health policies and health promotion work. This cross-sectional study investigated levels of mental wellbeing measured with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and the relationship with teacher support and class belonging among 574 Norwegian high school students, aged 16-17 (55.1% boys). The data stem from the COMPLETE-project. Results showed that students reported an average mental wellbeing of 3.50 (SD 0.88, range 1-5), with significant differences across gender, study specialization area and socioeconomic status groups. Class belonging partially mediated the observed relationship between teacher support and mental well-being after adjusting for covariates. The findings indicate that a supportive teacher may be a significant factor for both students’ class belonging and mental well-being, and suggests that school policies and programs should include a focus on promoting teachers’ supportive behavior.
Highlights
There has been a worrying increase in the extent of mental health problems among adolescents, where symptoms of depression appear to increase during adolescence (Reneflot et al, 2018; Sletten & Bakken, 2016)
As young people spend a quarter of their waking time at school, school is considered to be one of the life areas with the greatest importance for young people’s mental well-being, where they are with friends, engage in identity-forming activities and prepare for the future (Eccles & Roeser, 2011; Norwegian Directorate of Health, 2015a; Samdal & Torsheim, 2012)
Average scores were relatively high for both mental well-being (3.50, SD=.88), teacher support (3.71, SD=.84) and class belonging (4.05, SD=.80) (Table 1)
Summary
There has been a worrying increase in the extent of mental health problems among adolescents, where symptoms of depression appear to increase during adolescence (Reneflot et al, 2018; Sletten & Bakken, 2016). Public health policy documents and programs focus on positive aspects of mental health, such as belonging, coping, autonomy, growth and experience of meaning (Norwegian Directorate of Health, 2014; 2017). There is a need to increase the knowledge about factors in the school environment that could have an impact on youth mental well-being, such as the psychosocial class environment. This knowledge can be valuable to increase the understanding of how resources in school can influence or change the health promoting work for young people’s mental well-being. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate positive factors in the psychosocial class environment, measured by teacher support and class belonging, in relation to mental well-being among first grade students in upper secondary school
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
