Physical Activity, School Climate, and the Emotional Health of Adolescents: Findings from 2010 Canadian Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) Study

Abstract

Positive mental health and well-being for school-aged children have become key areas of research, with studies that show school climate and physical activity as being potentially modifiable correlates of these outcomes. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine the role school climate and physical activity play in the well-being and emotional problems of younger (elementary) and older (secondary) students. Using data obtained from the 2009/2010 administration of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, this study plotted the combined and independent roles of school climate and physical activity in the perceived emotional well-being and emotional problems of adolescents across Canada (N = ~26,000 students, Grades 6–10). We ran a series of regressions to assess both the independent and combined influences of physical activity and school climate on (1) emotional well-being and (2) emotional problems. Our findings suggest that (1) there is no significant effect of grade, (2) for emotional well-being, both physical activity and school climate contribute significantly and relatively equally and independently, (3) for emotional problems, physical activity and school climate have independent but differential contributions, (4) physical activity and school climate are more predictive of emotional well-being than of emotional problems. In conclusion, school climate and physical activity are potentially modifiable factors for school settings and could potentially be targeted to facilitate emotional well-being and reduce emotional problems in young people.