Teacher and classmate support may keep adolescents satisfied with school and education. Does gender matter?

Abstract

To examine the associations of teacher and classmate support with school satisfaction in adolescents, and whether gender modifies these associations. Data were used from the cross-sectional Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study collected in 2018 among Slovak 15-year-old adolescents (N = 931; 50.6% boys). School satisfaction was measured by school engagement and attitudes towards education leading to three groups of adolescents: satisfied, inconsistent and indifferent. We used multinomial logistic regression to examine the associations of teacher and classmate support with school satisfaction and its modification by gender. Adolescents who experienced support from teachers and classmates were less likely to feel indifferent (OR/95% CI: 0.77/0.70-0.85; and 0.76/0.67-0.85, respectively) or inconsistent (OR/95% CI: 0.84/0.77-0.92; and 0.73/0.65-0.81, respectively) than to feel satisfied than adolescents who did not experience such support. Adolescents who experienced support from teachers were less prone to feel indifferent than to feel inconsistent (OR/95% CI: 0.92/0.87-0.97). Gender did not modify the associations of social support with school satisfaction. Teacher and classmate support keep adolescents satisfied with school and education and might increase their chances for a healthy development.