The impact of school connectedness and teacher support on depressive symptoms in adolescents: A multilevel analysis

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.02.005

Children and Youth Services Review

Volume 39, April 2014, Pages 101-107

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.02.005 Get rights and content

Highlights

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We examine the relationship between school experiences and depressive symptoms.
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School connectedness was associated with fewer depressive symptoms.
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Getting along with teachers was associated with fewer depressive symptoms.
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The association varied for racial minority youth and females.

Abstract

Using data from Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), this study examined the association between school connectedness, teacher support and depressive symptoms in a weighted sample of 11,852 adolescents from 132 schools. To account for the nested data, multilevel regression was utilized. The results indicated that higher school connectedness and getting along with teachers were significantly associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Findings offer implications for school social work practice and future research. Suggestions for future research are described and strategies to enhance school connectedness and teacher support are discussed.

Introduction

Depression is a debilitating condition that is increasingly recognized among youth, with nearly a third of adolescents experiencing a depressive episode by age 19 (Lewinsohn, Rohde, & Seeley, 1998). Adolescent depression may be prevented or ameliorated by strong relationships (i.e., warmth, communication, support) with significant others (e.g., family, peers, school) (Hall-Lande, Eisenberg, Christenson, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2007). Indeed, depression may be prevented by strong connections to schools and relationships with teachers (Murray & Pianta, 2007).

Section snippets

School connectedness and depressive symptoms

School connectedness, the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, cared for, close to, and supported by others in the school environment (Goodenow, 1993, Libbey, 2004, Weiss et al., 2005) has been associated with depressive symptoms in preadolescents (Ross, Shochet, & Bellair, 2010) and adolescents (Jacobson and Rowe, 1999, Shochet et al., 2006). In a study examining adolescents from grades 7 to 12, Resnick et al. (1997) found that school connectedness was

Methods

The current study entailed a secondary data analysis of the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health (Add Health), a comprehensive, nationally representative, school-based study of United States adolescents in grades 7 through 12. Add Health was a longitudinal study with four waves of data collection. This study used Wave I and Wave II data and was approved by The Ohio State University Institutional Review Board. Please refer to Harris, 2005, Harris, 2009 for details on the Add Health

Descriptive statistics

Study participant characteristics are illustrated in Table 1. There were 11,852 adolescents in the study sample. The study sample was fairly evenly divided in terms of gender (51.8% female). The sample was diverse in terms of race with 1.7% of the sample being Native American, 7.1% Asian American, 21.3% African American, and 16.1% Hispanic. The majority (62.2%) of the sample was between the ages of 15 and 17. In regards to sexual orientation, 5% reported a same-sex attraction, same-sex romantic

Discussion

This study examined the association between school connectedness and depression and teacher support and depression in adolescents. The bivariate analyses demonstrated a modest correlation between higher school connectedness and teacher support and fewer depressive symptoms. Additionally, being female, a member of a racial minority, or a sexual minority, having prior depressive symptoms, and poor parent relationships were significantly associated with more reported depressive symptoms. These

Conclusion

Overall, this study demonstrated an association between higher school connectedness and getting along with teachers and fewer depressive symptoms in adolescents. The results offer implications for future research in this area as well as practice. In particular, future research on the relationship between teacher support and depressive symptoms is warranted, particularly among racial minority youth. Ultimately, school connectedness and teacher support may represent potential opportunities to

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^☆: Note: This research uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due to Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 ([email protected]).

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The impact of school connectedness and teacher support on depressive symptoms in adolescents: A multilevel analysis☆