Teacher connectedness and health-related outcomes among detained adolescents

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2004.11.137

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 37, Issue 4, October 2005, Pages 337.e17-337.e23

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2004.11.137 Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

Data were collected from a convenience sample of 550 detained adolescents (ages 14–18 years) to explore the association between adolescents’ perception of teacher connectedness and a range of health risk behaviors, such as gang membership, use of in alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, and engagement in sexual risk behaviors prior to detainment.

Methods

Participants answered survey questions using audio-computer assisted self-interviewing procedures that assessed demographic, pro-social, problem, and drug and sexual risk behaviors.

Results

Multiple logistic regression analyses controlling for demographic and socioeconomic status, truancy, number of days in the detention center, and family factors indicated that adolescents who reported low teacher connectedness, relative to their peers reporting high teacher connectedness, were twice as likely to use marijuana and amphetamines, and twice as likely to be sexually active, have sex while high on alcohol or drugs, have a partner who was high on alcohol or other drugs during sex, and have multiple sexual partners.

Conclusions

The association between teacher connectedness and adolescents’ health risk behaviors prior to detainment suggests that school-based interventions that enhance the school environment, particularly teachers’ skills and training to enhance and maximize the effectiveness of their student interactions, may be one strategy for reducing health risk behaviors and their associated adverse health outcomes among youth at high risk.

Section snippets

Participants

Administrators and educators from 8 regional youth detention centers (RYDCs) located in Georgia were solicited for their cooperation in a cross-sectional survey of female and male adolescent detainees. These 8 centers were selected because they had a male-female ratio no greater then 3:1, which ensured an adequate number of female adolescents from which to sample. Adolescents were eligible if they were 14 to 18 years old, had been enrolled in school prior to being detained, had been detained at

Results

The overall study sample comprised 550 adolescents. Descriptive statistics of the overall sample are illustrated in Table 1. Of the total sample, half were female adolescents (50.1%), and 41% were identified as white and non-Hispanic and 39.6% as African-American. The average age of these adolescents was 15.4 years (SD = .96), and the median level of education was completion of the ninth grade. A fourth of these adolescents (25.6%) lived with both parents, while almost half (45.1%) lived with

Discussion

This is one of the first studies to empirically document that low teacher connectedness is associated with drug and sexual risk behaviors among detained youth. The strong findings may in part be explained by social support perspectives [22], [23]. Perception of teacher connectedness could be conceptualized as 1 dimension of social support. Numerous studies have documented that adolescents who feel connected to a caring adult [24], [25], [26], [27], [28], [29] or a supportive school environment

Conclusion

Although schools represent an important venue for implementing primary prevention programs, they are also a place where meaningful social relationships are forged. Many of these social relationships, as in positive teacher-adolescent relationships, provide adolescents with socially protective moorings in communities where risk behaviors are often perceived as normative, and community and peer influences may be counterproductive to adopting health-protective behaviors.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by the Emory Center for AIDS Research (NIH/NIAID 2 P30 AI50409-04A1), the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention at Indiana University, and a grant from the University Research Council at Emory University. D. Voisin, R. DiClemente, and L. Salazar contributed to the design, analysis, and interpretation of the data. R. DiClemente, L. Salazar, R. Crosby, W. Yarber, and Michelle Staples-Horne contributed to the conception and acquisition of that data. All authors

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Research demonstrates that interventions promoting school connectedness can be successful at a school-wide level [38], but more tailored approaches may be necessary for adolescents involved with the juvenile justice system who are at risk for truancy and drop out. For juvenile offenders, teacher connectedness appears to be particularly important [39] and disconnection with school may occur when students perceive that teachers do not care [40] Several limitations should be kept in mind when interpreting our findings.
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Original articleTeacher connectedness and health-related outcomes among detained adolescents

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Participants

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

J Adolesc Health

J Adolesc Health

Prev Med

J Adolesc Health

Am J Prevent Med

HIV/AIDS risk behaviors in juvenile detainees: implications for public health policy

Am J Public Health

Sexually transmitted disease surveillance, 2000

Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: implications for substance abuse prevention

Psychol Bull

School-level application of a social bonding model to adolescent risk-taking behavior

J Sch Health

Protecting adolescents from harm: findings from the national longitudinal study on adolescent health

JAMA

School connectedness and transition into and out of health risk behavior among adolescents: a comparison of social belonging and teacher support

J Sch Health

Relationships matter: linking teacher support to engagement and achievement

J Sch Health

Prevention Plus 111: assessing alcohol and other drug prevention programs at the school and community level

Multidimensional causal models of delinquent behavior

Family ecology and sexual risk behaviors among African American and Latino adolescent males

Am J Orthopsychiatry

Application of computer-assisted interviews to sexual behavior research

Am J Epidemiol

Adolescent sexual behavior, drug use, and violence: increased reporting with computer survey technology

Science

Foundations of behavioral research

Original article
Teacher connectedness and health-related outcomes among detained adolescents