Perceived school climate, academic well-being and school-aged children's self-rated health: a mediator analysis

Eur J Public Health. 2018 Dec 1;28(6):1012-1018. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/cky089.

Abstract

Background: Schools are crucial settings for young people's development. Rare studies have examined the impact of perceived school-climate and academic well-being on young people's self-rated health in joint analyses. This study focuses on the role of perceived school-climate and academic well-being for young people's self-rated health and examines whether school climate is mediated by indicators of academic well-being.

Methods: Data were obtained from the German National Educational Panel Study, including seventh grade students (n = 6838) aged 11-12, nested in 710 classes within 277 schools. Indicators of school climate (teacher control, demands, autonomy, interaction, goal setting and orientation, teaching quality) and academic well-being (satisfaction with school, helplessness in major school subjects) were reported from students. Multilevel modelling was used to analyze the relative importance of perceived school-climate and academic well-being on school-aged children's self-rated health.

Results: Results showed that academic well-being is strongly related to self-rated health. The better students perceive their academic well-being, the lower the likelihood of poor self-rated health. In contrast, indicators of perceived school climate are only indirectly related to self-rated health, mediated by academic well-being or are not at all associated with self-rated health.

Conclusions: This study suggests that school climate is important for academic well-being but not as important for students' self-rated health as academic well-being. Health promotion initiatives in schools have to ensure that school climate serves to enhance students' academic well-being to avoid health problems in the long-run.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Academic Success*
  • Child
  • Female
  • Germany
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Patient Generated Health Data*
  • Perception
  • Personal Satisfaction*
  • Schools* / organization & administration
  • Social Environment*