Journal of Adolescent Health 54 (2014) 543e549
www.jahonline.org Original article
How Does Support From Peers Compare With Support From Adults as Students Transition to Secondary School? Stacey Waters, Ph.D. *, Leanne Lester, Ph.D., and Donna Cross, Ed.D. Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University, Mount Lawley, Western Australia, Australia
Article history: Received September 3, 2013; Accepted October 17, 2013 Keywords: School connectedness; Transition; Peers; Family
A B S T R A C T
Purpose: Understanding how young people navigate the transition from primary to secondary school is critical for preventing the adverse mental health, social, and academic outcomes associated with a difficult transition. This study sought to determine from whom young people receive support before the transition period to help inform the development of future intervention research testing, as well as peer, school, and family-based supports during transition. Methods: Data were collected from 1,974 primary school students prior to the transition and again in Term 1 of the first year of secondary school. Students were asked about their expectation of the transition as well as their support from peers, family, and the school. Just over half (52%) of the sample were females with a mean age of 12 years. Results: Peer, school, and family supports all predicted positive student transition experiences. When in Grade 7 and considering all predictors together, a high level of perceived peer support was the most significant predictor of an expectation of an easy or somewhat easy transition. In Grade 8, again after considering all sources of support, parental presence was the most significant protective predictor of an easy or somewhat easy transition experience. Conclusions: Students who expect and experience a positive transition to secondary school are generally well-supported by their peers, school, and family. The most stable influence for young people over the transition period is the presence of families before and after school and future intervention efforts to support young people during transition need to build support from families. Ó 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.
There remains a lot to be learned about how young people make successful transitions from primary to secondary school and how they are supported during this time. Does the “here and now” of peers provide the greatest support for students before and after transition, or do the connections with teachers and the school as a whole predict successful secondary school transition? And what role do parents have in helping and supporting their children through this important time? In this period of great physical, social, and emotional development for adolescents, the * Address correspondence to: Stacey Waters, Ph.D., Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University, 2 Bradford Street, Mount Lawley, Western Australia 6050, Australia. E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Waters).
IMPLICATIONS AND CONTRIBUTION
This paper examines the sources of support adolescents receive from peers, school, and families in primary school and their impact on transition. Future interventions to support young people’s transition should begin in primary school and build positive peer relationships while empowering parents to support their adolescent through the transition.
change in school and friendship groups adds another layer of complexity. To aid future interventions, this paper seeks to explore the role of teachers, peers, families, and school in preparing and supporting young people through the transition to secondary school. The literature clearly articulates the negative outcomes for young people who experience a poor transition to secondary school. These students are more likely to report emotional problems, feelings of depression and anxiety, and greater use of antisocial behaviors [1e8]. Limited international longitudinal evidence suggests some of these emotional health problems continue beyond the initial transition period, including elevated levels of depression, anxiety, and poorer well-being [6,7]. Our recently reported 1-year prospective study involving 1,500
1054-139X/$ e see front matter Ó 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.10.012
544
S. Waters et al. / Journal of Adolescent Health 54 (2014) 543e549
Australian Grade 8 secondary school students found that 31% of students in the sample experienced a “difficult” or “somewhat difficult” transition to their new school [8]. This third of the student sample were more likely to experience poorer social and emotional health, including higher levels of depression and anxiety at the end of their first year of secondary school. The problems relating to transition from primary to secondary school are not new and are linked to two main factors, the change in school context and with that, the change in friendships. In Western Australia the transition from primary (Grade 7, age 12 years) to secondary school (Grade 8, age 13 years) signifies a considerable period of social and environmental change. The primary school setting is characterized by smaller class sizes where 25e30 students are taught by one classroom teacher. In contrast, Australian secondary schools have larger student cohorts and employ specialist teaching staff who teach 25e30 students for between 30 and 80 minutes before the students move to their next class. These differences in school structure require adolescents to adjust to significant changes in the learning environment, contributing to concerns and anxiety during transition as well as in anticipating transition [9]. In this paper, we conceptualized support for students at two levels, adapting Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological model [10]: the micro-system and meso-system. First, we examined support students received from their immediate micro-system, which includes their interactions with family, peers, and teachers. Second, students’ meso-systems, as expressed by their connection to school, were explored. Connection to family The home environment plays a significant role in shaping adolescent health [11]. In one of the largest cross-sectional studies of adolescents [12], high levels of family connectedness was found to be the most consistent protective factor for reduced involvement in problem behaviors as well as improved emotional health [11]. More specifically, family communication and the quality of an adolescent’s relationship with his or her parents had a positive effect in decreasing problem behaviors and substance use, delinquency, and depression [13]. Moreover, recent Australian data highlighted the combined role of parental attachment and connection to school on the development of adolescent depressive symptoms [14]. Connection to peers Developmentally, adolescents shift from a reliance on parents to a reliance on peers with peer support needed for the development of social, emotional, and mental health [15,16]. Consequently, negative peer interaction can have a harmful effect on physical, mental, and social health [17e20]. The transition from primary to secondary school is marked not only by a change in context but by a change in friendship groups as well. As a result the transition period can be characterized by increased feelings of isolation as friendship groups change and adolescents develop new friendships and lose friends. This also occurs at a time when students experience increasing pressure to attain high social status [21]. Connection to teachers The extent to which young people feel connected to and supported by their teachers is also a powerful predictor of their health
and academic outcomes. Young people’s connection to their teachers predicts positive social and emotional health outcomes such as better peer relationships, academic success, and reduced participation in health-risk behaviors [12]. Connectedness to teachers can also provide a buffer for negative connections to peers as well as the prevention of health-risk behaviors [22]. Connection to school School connectedness refers to the extent to which young people feel as though they belong at school [23] and remains one of the most important predictors of adolescent health, social, and academic outcomes [24]. School connectedness is associated with fewer problem behaviors [11,25,26], more interest in school [27], greater academic achievement [28e30], more likelihood of staying at school longer [12,25,30], and less likelihood of truancy from school [27]. Those students who are highly connected to school are also less likely to experience depressive or anxious symptoms [11,12,28,31] and are less likely to be at risk for suicide [11]. These highly connected students are also more physically active and safety conscious [26]. Students with higher levels of school connectedness in primary school have better long-term health and educational outcomes, academic achievement, and social competence [32], and reduced likelihood of tobacco, alcohol, or other harmful drug use, criminal involvement, gang membership, and school dropout [32]. The specific research questions for this study are: (1) Do school connectedness, teacher connectedness, parent connectedness, and peer support in Grade 7 predict students’ expectations of transition in Grade 7?; (2) Which of these four supports have the greatest impact on students’ transition expectations in Grade 7?; (3) Do school connectedness, teacher connectedness, parent-family connectedness, and peer support in Grade 7 predict a students’ transition experience in Grade 8?; and (4) Which supports have the greatest impact on students’ transition experience in Grade 8? Method Study design The data used in this paper were drawn from the Supportive Schools Project, a 3-year randomized cluster intervention comparison trial (2006 to 2008) testing the impact of a whole-school intervention, including curriculum, on students’ experiences of bullying in a random sample of Catholic secondary schools. In Western Australia students currently transition from primary school at the end of Grade 7 when they are 12 years old and commence secondary school in Grade 8, the year they turn 13 years old. Approval for this study was provided by Edith Cowan University’s Human Research Ethics Committee and the Catholic Education Office of Western Australia. Sample selection and recruitment All Western Australian secondary Catholic Education Office schools located in the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia were invited to participate in this research. Of the 28 eligible Catholic Education Office schools, 20 agreed to participate in the study. After being recruited, schools were stratified according to total population size of the school (above and below the median school size of 811 students) and the school’s
S. Waters et al. / Journal of Adolescent Health 54 (2014) 543e549
socioeconomic status (SES) (above and below the “SES Index Modified” median score of 100) and allocated to four strata and randomly assigned to the intervention or comparison condition. Participation Each secondary school recruited into the Supportive Schools Project was asked for a list of students enrolled to attend in 2006 as Grade 8 students. Parents of these students were sent a letter seeking consent for their child to participate in the study while they were in Grade 7 at primary school and again in Grades 8 and 9 at the participating secondary schools. In Term 1 of the first year of secondary school (when students were in Grade 8), 3,382 (1,572 intervention; 1,745 comparison) 12- to 13-year-old students were present across each of the study schools. A combination of active (opt-in) and passive (opt-out) parental consent was used to recruit students [33]. Three weeks after the first active consent letter was sent to parents, a second letter was mailed seeking active consent, following which all nonresponding parents received a final letter seeking passive consent for their child’s participation (Table 1). A questionnaire was mailed to the homes of the Grade 7 students with parental consent for students’ to complete in their own time and return to the research team via a reply-paid envelope. Grade 8 students completed their questionnaires in class with the assistance of trained university staff who used a strict procedural and verbal protocol. Confidentiality of Grade 8 respondents was maintained by the use of identification numbers and teachers were asked not to look at students’ responses. Measures The dependent variables used in this study were transition expectation in Grade 7 and transition experience in Grade 8. Independent variables were students’ connectedness to peers, teachers, school, and parents and family. Transition expectation. Students were asked to rate their expectation of transition from primary to secondary school based on a question from Akos and Martin [34], “How do you think the move from primary to high school will be for you?”. Responses were collected on a 5-point scale (1 ¼ difficult; 2 ¼ somewhat difficult; 3 ¼ somewhat easy; 4 ¼ easy; 5 ¼ don’t know) (Table 2). Transition experience. Students were asked to rate their transition experience from primary to secondary school [34] (How was the move from primary school for you?). Responses were collected on a 5-point scale (1 ¼ difficult; 2 ¼ somewhat difficult; 3 ¼ somewhat easy; 4 ¼ easy; 5 ¼ don’t know). This measure represents students’ feelings regarding the transition in Term 1 of the first year of secondary school and as such is an immediate measure of their transition experience (Table 2). Peer support. The peer support at school scale (adapted from the 24-item Perceptions of Peer Social Support Scale [35]) comprised 11 items measuring peer acceptance, support, and communication. Items were measured on a 3-point scale (1 ¼ never; 2 ¼ sometimes; 3 ¼ lots of times). A factor analysis performed on the adapted peer support scale confirmed its unidimensionality (CFI > .9, SMR < .10). A peer support score at each time point was calculated for each student by averaging all items, higher scores reflecting greater feelings of peer support (a ¼ .83).
545
Table 1 Description of sample
End of Grade 7 Males Females Total Beginning of Grade 8 Males Females Total Students at both time points Males Females Total
Intervention
Control
Total
517 506 1,023
486 568 1,054
1,003 1,074 2,077
828 743 1,571
847 896 1,743
1,675 1,639 3,314
489 478 967
461 546 1,007
950 1,024 1,974
School connectedness. The connectedness to school scale comprised 4 items adapted from the 6-item School Connectedness Scale [11] (I feel close to people at school; I feel like I am part of this school; I am happy to be at school; the teachers treat students fairly) measured on a 5-point scale (1 ¼ never; 2 ¼ unsure; 3 ¼ sometimes; 4 ¼ usually; 5 ¼ always). The unidimensionality of the adapted scale was confirmed in a factor analysis (CFI > .9, SMR < .10). For each student an average score was calculated, with a higher score reflecting greater feelings of connectedness to their school (a ¼ .79). Teacher connectedness. The teacher connectedness scale was drawn from the 6-item Teacher Connectedness Scale [11] assessing whether a teacher cares about them and notices when they are not there, measured on a 5-point scale (1 ¼ unsure, 2 ¼ never, 3 ¼ some of the time, 4 ¼ Most of the time, 5 ¼ all of the time). The unidimensionality of the adapted scale was confirmed in a factor analysis (CFI > .9, SMR < .10). For each student an average score was calculated, with a higher score reflecting greater feelings of connectedness to their teacher (average a ¼ .81). Parent and family connectedness. Parent and family connectedness comprised three subscales [11] which can be described as closeness, presence, and listens. The closeness subscale comprises 7 items relating to adolescents’ relationship and communication with parents, the presence subscale comprises 4 items representing a parent or adult’s presence before or after school, at dinner time and in the evening after dinner, and the listens subscale comprises 2 items pertaining to listening to problems and opinions. The unidimensionality of the subscales were confirmed in a factor analysis (all CFI > .9, SMR < .10). For each student an average parent and family closeness (a ¼ .82) presence (a ¼ .67), and listens (a ¼ .92) score was calculated, with a higher score reflecting greater feelings of connectedness to their parents and family. Statistical analysis Analyses were conducted using STATA v10 (StataCorp, College Station, TX) and SPSS v21 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Separate multinomial regression models were used to determine whether peer support, school connectedness, teacher connectedness, and parent and family connectedness were predictors of transition expectation and experience, controlling for gender. All predictors were placed in one multinomial regression model to determine the strength of the predictors of transition expectation and experience relative to each other.
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S. Waters et al. / Journal of Adolescent Health 54 (2014) 543e549
Table 2 Transition expectation and experience by gender as a percentage of the sample
Transition expectationa Difficult Somewhat difficult Somewhat easy Easy Don’t know Transition experienceb Difficult Somewhat difficult Somewhat easy Easy Don’t know a b
Male (n ¼ 480)
Female (n ¼ 552)
Total (n ¼ 1,032)
10.6 19.2 28.8 20.2 21.3
10.9 22.3 24.5 16.8 25.5
10.8 20.8 26.5 18.4 23.5
7.1 12.7 19.1 53.7 7.4
10.2 19.1 21.1 43.5 6.1
9.7 16.0 20.2 48.4 6.7
Discussion
X2 ¼ 6.585, p ¼ .160. X2 ¼ 25.576, p < .001.
Results On average, students at the end of Grade 7 felt they were supported by their peers, were well-connected to their school, teacher, and parents and family (Table 3). Females reported significantly greater peer support (p < .001), greater connectedness to school (p ¼ .019), and greater connectedness to teachers (p ¼ .002) than males. There were no significant differences between males and females with respect to parent and family connectedness (closeness: p ¼ .735; presence: p ¼ .361; listens: p ¼ .502). Students with greater peer support (easy transition OR ¼ 13.2; somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 7.4), greater school connectedness (easy transition OR ¼ 2.7; somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 1.9), teacher connectedness (easy transition OR ¼ 1.7; somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 1.5), greater parent and family closeness (easy transition OR ¼ 2.9; somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 2.0), greater parent and family presence (easy transition OR ¼ 1.7), or students who had parent and family listening (easy transition OR ¼ 1.5) have increased odds of expecting transition to be easy or somewhat easy rather than difficult (Table 4). When all predictors were placed in the one multinomial regression model, peer support was the only significant predictor of an expectation of an easy or somewhat transition (Table 4). Those with greater peer support had significantly increased odds of expecting transition to be easy (OR ¼ 8.9) or somewhat easy (OR ¼ 6.6) than difficult. Students with greater peer support (easy transition OR ¼ 2.9), greater school connectedness (easy transition OR ¼ 1.8; somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 1.8), greater parent and family Table 3 Sample characteristics at end of Grade 7
*
Peer support School connectedness* Teacher connectedness** Parent-family connectedness Closeness Presence Listens * **
p < .05. p < .01.
closeness (easy transition OR ¼ 2.0), or greater parent and family presence (somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 1.9) have increased odds of experiencing an easy or somewhat easy rather than difficult transition (Table 5). When all predictors were placed in the one multinomial regression model, parental presence was the only significant predictor of an easy or somewhat easy transition experience in Grade 8 (Table 5). Students reporting greater parental closeness had significantly increased odds of experiencing an easy (OR ¼ 2.3) transition rather than a difficult one. Those with greater parental presence had significantly increased odds of experiencing an easy (OR ¼ 2.0) or somewhat easy (OR ¼ 2.1) transition rather than a difficult one.
Male
Female
Total
Mean (SD)
Mean (SD)
Mean (SD)
2.50 (.35) 3.37 (.60) 4.01 (.85)
2.65 (.30) 3.45 (.58) 4.17 (.77)
2.58 (.33) 3.41 (.59) 4.10 (.81)
4.27 (.35) 4.69 (.48) 4.57 (.80)
4.26 (.34) 4.72 (.47) 4.60 (.72)
4.27 (.34) 4.71 (.48) 4.59 (.76)
Our study sought to determine the most salient sources of support as predictors of students’ expectations (Grade 7) and experience (Grade 8) of the transition to secondary school. Using the ecological framework we hypothesized that support from peers, connectedness to teachers and the school as well as parental support in Grade 7 would predict positive expectations and experience of the transition process. Higher levels of all types of support to young people in Grade 7 in our sample predicted their positive expectations of the transition as well as a positive transition experience. When considered together, peer support was the most powerful predictor of students’ positive transition expectations in Grade 7 while parental presence in Grade 7 was most predictive of a positive transition experience. Much of the literature describes the correlates or outcomes of a negative transition experience. Our study contributes a new perspective on transition: using longitudinal data to examine the supports available to young people in primary school that lay the foundation for positive expectations and experiences of the transition to secondary school. These findings complement recent studies describing the important role of peer, teacher, and school connectedness as powerful predictors of students’ improved social and emotional health [11,12,24,26,31] and suggest these supports in primary school have a protective influence before and at the time of transitioning to secondary school. Although all levels of support were predictive of students’ expectations and experience of transition, when considered together two very different types of support became the single significant predictors of the expectation and experience independently. First, higher levels of perceived support from students were most predictive of students’ expectations (Grade 7) of the impending transition. Therefore, although teacher and school connectedness and parental support are important, peers are the most influential before the transition in helping to set positive expectations of the move to secondary school. Consistent with this finding is the literature suggesting young people rely on their peers for support as they enter adolescence [36]. Moreover, this finding suggests the friendships young people create over many years in primary school are on the whole, a very positive source of social support. On the other hand, it is the potential unsettling of these friendship groups that garners some of the fears young people have in moving to a new school context [9]. Conversely, parental presence in Grade 7 (at home before and after school and at meal times) was the most significant predictor of students actual transition experience in Grade 8. This lends itself to the argument that although peers are important in the “here and now,” parental presence and the implied support this
S. Waters et al. / Journal of Adolescent Health 54 (2014) 543e549
547
Table 4 Multinomial logistic regression predictors of transition expectation Transition expectation
Easyd Peer supportc School connectedness Teacher connectedness Parent-family connectedness Closeness Presence Listens Somewhat easyd Peer supportc School connectedness Teacher connectedness Parent-family connectedness Closeness Presence Listens Somewhat difficult Peer support School connectedness Teacher connectedness Parent-family connectedness Closeness Presence Listens Don’t know Peer support School connectedness Teacher connectedness Parent-family connectedness Closeness Presence Listens a b c d * **
Model 1a
Model 2b
OR
95% CI
p
OR
95% CI
p
13.24 2.73 1.73
(6.13, 28.60) (1.81, 4.11) (1.29, 2.32)
www.jahonline.org Original article
How Does Support From Peers Compare With Support From Adults as Students Transition to Secondary School? Stacey Waters, Ph.D. *, Leanne Lester, Ph.D., and Donna Cross, Ed.D. Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University, Mount Lawley, Western Australia, Australia
Article history: Received September 3, 2013; Accepted October 17, 2013 Keywords: School connectedness; Transition; Peers; Family
A B S T R A C T
Purpose: Understanding how young people navigate the transition from primary to secondary school is critical for preventing the adverse mental health, social, and academic outcomes associated with a difficult transition. This study sought to determine from whom young people receive support before the transition period to help inform the development of future intervention research testing, as well as peer, school, and family-based supports during transition. Methods: Data were collected from 1,974 primary school students prior to the transition and again in Term 1 of the first year of secondary school. Students were asked about their expectation of the transition as well as their support from peers, family, and the school. Just over half (52%) of the sample were females with a mean age of 12 years. Results: Peer, school, and family supports all predicted positive student transition experiences. When in Grade 7 and considering all predictors together, a high level of perceived peer support was the most significant predictor of an expectation of an easy or somewhat easy transition. In Grade 8, again after considering all sources of support, parental presence was the most significant protective predictor of an easy or somewhat easy transition experience. Conclusions: Students who expect and experience a positive transition to secondary school are generally well-supported by their peers, school, and family. The most stable influence for young people over the transition period is the presence of families before and after school and future intervention efforts to support young people during transition need to build support from families. Ó 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.
There remains a lot to be learned about how young people make successful transitions from primary to secondary school and how they are supported during this time. Does the “here and now” of peers provide the greatest support for students before and after transition, or do the connections with teachers and the school as a whole predict successful secondary school transition? And what role do parents have in helping and supporting their children through this important time? In this period of great physical, social, and emotional development for adolescents, the * Address correspondence to: Stacey Waters, Ph.D., Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University, 2 Bradford Street, Mount Lawley, Western Australia 6050, Australia. E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Waters).
IMPLICATIONS AND CONTRIBUTION
This paper examines the sources of support adolescents receive from peers, school, and families in primary school and their impact on transition. Future interventions to support young people’s transition should begin in primary school and build positive peer relationships while empowering parents to support their adolescent through the transition.
change in school and friendship groups adds another layer of complexity. To aid future interventions, this paper seeks to explore the role of teachers, peers, families, and school in preparing and supporting young people through the transition to secondary school. The literature clearly articulates the negative outcomes for young people who experience a poor transition to secondary school. These students are more likely to report emotional problems, feelings of depression and anxiety, and greater use of antisocial behaviors [1e8]. Limited international longitudinal evidence suggests some of these emotional health problems continue beyond the initial transition period, including elevated levels of depression, anxiety, and poorer well-being [6,7]. Our recently reported 1-year prospective study involving 1,500
1054-139X/$ e see front matter Ó 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.10.012
544
S. Waters et al. / Journal of Adolescent Health 54 (2014) 543e549
Australian Grade 8 secondary school students found that 31% of students in the sample experienced a “difficult” or “somewhat difficult” transition to their new school [8]. This third of the student sample were more likely to experience poorer social and emotional health, including higher levels of depression and anxiety at the end of their first year of secondary school. The problems relating to transition from primary to secondary school are not new and are linked to two main factors, the change in school context and with that, the change in friendships. In Western Australia the transition from primary (Grade 7, age 12 years) to secondary school (Grade 8, age 13 years) signifies a considerable period of social and environmental change. The primary school setting is characterized by smaller class sizes where 25e30 students are taught by one classroom teacher. In contrast, Australian secondary schools have larger student cohorts and employ specialist teaching staff who teach 25e30 students for between 30 and 80 minutes before the students move to their next class. These differences in school structure require adolescents to adjust to significant changes in the learning environment, contributing to concerns and anxiety during transition as well as in anticipating transition [9]. In this paper, we conceptualized support for students at two levels, adapting Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological model [10]: the micro-system and meso-system. First, we examined support students received from their immediate micro-system, which includes their interactions with family, peers, and teachers. Second, students’ meso-systems, as expressed by their connection to school, were explored. Connection to family The home environment plays a significant role in shaping adolescent health [11]. In one of the largest cross-sectional studies of adolescents [12], high levels of family connectedness was found to be the most consistent protective factor for reduced involvement in problem behaviors as well as improved emotional health [11]. More specifically, family communication and the quality of an adolescent’s relationship with his or her parents had a positive effect in decreasing problem behaviors and substance use, delinquency, and depression [13]. Moreover, recent Australian data highlighted the combined role of parental attachment and connection to school on the development of adolescent depressive symptoms [14]. Connection to peers Developmentally, adolescents shift from a reliance on parents to a reliance on peers with peer support needed for the development of social, emotional, and mental health [15,16]. Consequently, negative peer interaction can have a harmful effect on physical, mental, and social health [17e20]. The transition from primary to secondary school is marked not only by a change in context but by a change in friendship groups as well. As a result the transition period can be characterized by increased feelings of isolation as friendship groups change and adolescents develop new friendships and lose friends. This also occurs at a time when students experience increasing pressure to attain high social status [21]. Connection to teachers The extent to which young people feel connected to and supported by their teachers is also a powerful predictor of their health
and academic outcomes. Young people’s connection to their teachers predicts positive social and emotional health outcomes such as better peer relationships, academic success, and reduced participation in health-risk behaviors [12]. Connectedness to teachers can also provide a buffer for negative connections to peers as well as the prevention of health-risk behaviors [22]. Connection to school School connectedness refers to the extent to which young people feel as though they belong at school [23] and remains one of the most important predictors of adolescent health, social, and academic outcomes [24]. School connectedness is associated with fewer problem behaviors [11,25,26], more interest in school [27], greater academic achievement [28e30], more likelihood of staying at school longer [12,25,30], and less likelihood of truancy from school [27]. Those students who are highly connected to school are also less likely to experience depressive or anxious symptoms [11,12,28,31] and are less likely to be at risk for suicide [11]. These highly connected students are also more physically active and safety conscious [26]. Students with higher levels of school connectedness in primary school have better long-term health and educational outcomes, academic achievement, and social competence [32], and reduced likelihood of tobacco, alcohol, or other harmful drug use, criminal involvement, gang membership, and school dropout [32]. The specific research questions for this study are: (1) Do school connectedness, teacher connectedness, parent connectedness, and peer support in Grade 7 predict students’ expectations of transition in Grade 7?; (2) Which of these four supports have the greatest impact on students’ transition expectations in Grade 7?; (3) Do school connectedness, teacher connectedness, parent-family connectedness, and peer support in Grade 7 predict a students’ transition experience in Grade 8?; and (4) Which supports have the greatest impact on students’ transition experience in Grade 8? Method Study design The data used in this paper were drawn from the Supportive Schools Project, a 3-year randomized cluster intervention comparison trial (2006 to 2008) testing the impact of a whole-school intervention, including curriculum, on students’ experiences of bullying in a random sample of Catholic secondary schools. In Western Australia students currently transition from primary school at the end of Grade 7 when they are 12 years old and commence secondary school in Grade 8, the year they turn 13 years old. Approval for this study was provided by Edith Cowan University’s Human Research Ethics Committee and the Catholic Education Office of Western Australia. Sample selection and recruitment All Western Australian secondary Catholic Education Office schools located in the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia were invited to participate in this research. Of the 28 eligible Catholic Education Office schools, 20 agreed to participate in the study. After being recruited, schools were stratified according to total population size of the school (above and below the median school size of 811 students) and the school’s
S. Waters et al. / Journal of Adolescent Health 54 (2014) 543e549
socioeconomic status (SES) (above and below the “SES Index Modified” median score of 100) and allocated to four strata and randomly assigned to the intervention or comparison condition. Participation Each secondary school recruited into the Supportive Schools Project was asked for a list of students enrolled to attend in 2006 as Grade 8 students. Parents of these students were sent a letter seeking consent for their child to participate in the study while they were in Grade 7 at primary school and again in Grades 8 and 9 at the participating secondary schools. In Term 1 of the first year of secondary school (when students were in Grade 8), 3,382 (1,572 intervention; 1,745 comparison) 12- to 13-year-old students were present across each of the study schools. A combination of active (opt-in) and passive (opt-out) parental consent was used to recruit students [33]. Three weeks after the first active consent letter was sent to parents, a second letter was mailed seeking active consent, following which all nonresponding parents received a final letter seeking passive consent for their child’s participation (Table 1). A questionnaire was mailed to the homes of the Grade 7 students with parental consent for students’ to complete in their own time and return to the research team via a reply-paid envelope. Grade 8 students completed their questionnaires in class with the assistance of trained university staff who used a strict procedural and verbal protocol. Confidentiality of Grade 8 respondents was maintained by the use of identification numbers and teachers were asked not to look at students’ responses. Measures The dependent variables used in this study were transition expectation in Grade 7 and transition experience in Grade 8. Independent variables were students’ connectedness to peers, teachers, school, and parents and family. Transition expectation. Students were asked to rate their expectation of transition from primary to secondary school based on a question from Akos and Martin [34], “How do you think the move from primary to high school will be for you?”. Responses were collected on a 5-point scale (1 ¼ difficult; 2 ¼ somewhat difficult; 3 ¼ somewhat easy; 4 ¼ easy; 5 ¼ don’t know) (Table 2). Transition experience. Students were asked to rate their transition experience from primary to secondary school [34] (How was the move from primary school for you?). Responses were collected on a 5-point scale (1 ¼ difficult; 2 ¼ somewhat difficult; 3 ¼ somewhat easy; 4 ¼ easy; 5 ¼ don’t know). This measure represents students’ feelings regarding the transition in Term 1 of the first year of secondary school and as such is an immediate measure of their transition experience (Table 2). Peer support. The peer support at school scale (adapted from the 24-item Perceptions of Peer Social Support Scale [35]) comprised 11 items measuring peer acceptance, support, and communication. Items were measured on a 3-point scale (1 ¼ never; 2 ¼ sometimes; 3 ¼ lots of times). A factor analysis performed on the adapted peer support scale confirmed its unidimensionality (CFI > .9, SMR < .10). A peer support score at each time point was calculated for each student by averaging all items, higher scores reflecting greater feelings of peer support (a ¼ .83).
545
Table 1 Description of sample
End of Grade 7 Males Females Total Beginning of Grade 8 Males Females Total Students at both time points Males Females Total
Intervention
Control
Total
517 506 1,023
486 568 1,054
1,003 1,074 2,077
828 743 1,571
847 896 1,743
1,675 1,639 3,314
489 478 967
461 546 1,007
950 1,024 1,974
School connectedness. The connectedness to school scale comprised 4 items adapted from the 6-item School Connectedness Scale [11] (I feel close to people at school; I feel like I am part of this school; I am happy to be at school; the teachers treat students fairly) measured on a 5-point scale (1 ¼ never; 2 ¼ unsure; 3 ¼ sometimes; 4 ¼ usually; 5 ¼ always). The unidimensionality of the adapted scale was confirmed in a factor analysis (CFI > .9, SMR < .10). For each student an average score was calculated, with a higher score reflecting greater feelings of connectedness to their school (a ¼ .79). Teacher connectedness. The teacher connectedness scale was drawn from the 6-item Teacher Connectedness Scale [11] assessing whether a teacher cares about them and notices when they are not there, measured on a 5-point scale (1 ¼ unsure, 2 ¼ never, 3 ¼ some of the time, 4 ¼ Most of the time, 5 ¼ all of the time). The unidimensionality of the adapted scale was confirmed in a factor analysis (CFI > .9, SMR < .10). For each student an average score was calculated, with a higher score reflecting greater feelings of connectedness to their teacher (average a ¼ .81). Parent and family connectedness. Parent and family connectedness comprised three subscales [11] which can be described as closeness, presence, and listens. The closeness subscale comprises 7 items relating to adolescents’ relationship and communication with parents, the presence subscale comprises 4 items representing a parent or adult’s presence before or after school, at dinner time and in the evening after dinner, and the listens subscale comprises 2 items pertaining to listening to problems and opinions. The unidimensionality of the subscales were confirmed in a factor analysis (all CFI > .9, SMR < .10). For each student an average parent and family closeness (a ¼ .82) presence (a ¼ .67), and listens (a ¼ .92) score was calculated, with a higher score reflecting greater feelings of connectedness to their parents and family. Statistical analysis Analyses were conducted using STATA v10 (StataCorp, College Station, TX) and SPSS v21 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Separate multinomial regression models were used to determine whether peer support, school connectedness, teacher connectedness, and parent and family connectedness were predictors of transition expectation and experience, controlling for gender. All predictors were placed in one multinomial regression model to determine the strength of the predictors of transition expectation and experience relative to each other.
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Table 2 Transition expectation and experience by gender as a percentage of the sample
Transition expectationa Difficult Somewhat difficult Somewhat easy Easy Don’t know Transition experienceb Difficult Somewhat difficult Somewhat easy Easy Don’t know a b
Male (n ¼ 480)
Female (n ¼ 552)
Total (n ¼ 1,032)
10.6 19.2 28.8 20.2 21.3
10.9 22.3 24.5 16.8 25.5
10.8 20.8 26.5 18.4 23.5
7.1 12.7 19.1 53.7 7.4
10.2 19.1 21.1 43.5 6.1
9.7 16.0 20.2 48.4 6.7
Discussion
X2 ¼ 6.585, p ¼ .160. X2 ¼ 25.576, p < .001.
Results On average, students at the end of Grade 7 felt they were supported by their peers, were well-connected to their school, teacher, and parents and family (Table 3). Females reported significantly greater peer support (p < .001), greater connectedness to school (p ¼ .019), and greater connectedness to teachers (p ¼ .002) than males. There were no significant differences between males and females with respect to parent and family connectedness (closeness: p ¼ .735; presence: p ¼ .361; listens: p ¼ .502). Students with greater peer support (easy transition OR ¼ 13.2; somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 7.4), greater school connectedness (easy transition OR ¼ 2.7; somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 1.9), teacher connectedness (easy transition OR ¼ 1.7; somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 1.5), greater parent and family closeness (easy transition OR ¼ 2.9; somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 2.0), greater parent and family presence (easy transition OR ¼ 1.7), or students who had parent and family listening (easy transition OR ¼ 1.5) have increased odds of expecting transition to be easy or somewhat easy rather than difficult (Table 4). When all predictors were placed in the one multinomial regression model, peer support was the only significant predictor of an expectation of an easy or somewhat transition (Table 4). Those with greater peer support had significantly increased odds of expecting transition to be easy (OR ¼ 8.9) or somewhat easy (OR ¼ 6.6) than difficult. Students with greater peer support (easy transition OR ¼ 2.9), greater school connectedness (easy transition OR ¼ 1.8; somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 1.8), greater parent and family Table 3 Sample characteristics at end of Grade 7
*
Peer support School connectedness* Teacher connectedness** Parent-family connectedness Closeness Presence Listens * **
p < .05. p < .01.
closeness (easy transition OR ¼ 2.0), or greater parent and family presence (somewhat easy transition OR ¼ 1.9) have increased odds of experiencing an easy or somewhat easy rather than difficult transition (Table 5). When all predictors were placed in the one multinomial regression model, parental presence was the only significant predictor of an easy or somewhat easy transition experience in Grade 8 (Table 5). Students reporting greater parental closeness had significantly increased odds of experiencing an easy (OR ¼ 2.3) transition rather than a difficult one. Those with greater parental presence had significantly increased odds of experiencing an easy (OR ¼ 2.0) or somewhat easy (OR ¼ 2.1) transition rather than a difficult one.
Male
Female
Total
Mean (SD)
Mean (SD)
Mean (SD)
2.50 (.35) 3.37 (.60) 4.01 (.85)
2.65 (.30) 3.45 (.58) 4.17 (.77)
2.58 (.33) 3.41 (.59) 4.10 (.81)
4.27 (.35) 4.69 (.48) 4.57 (.80)
4.26 (.34) 4.72 (.47) 4.60 (.72)
4.27 (.34) 4.71 (.48) 4.59 (.76)
Our study sought to determine the most salient sources of support as predictors of students’ expectations (Grade 7) and experience (Grade 8) of the transition to secondary school. Using the ecological framework we hypothesized that support from peers, connectedness to teachers and the school as well as parental support in Grade 7 would predict positive expectations and experience of the transition process. Higher levels of all types of support to young people in Grade 7 in our sample predicted their positive expectations of the transition as well as a positive transition experience. When considered together, peer support was the most powerful predictor of students’ positive transition expectations in Grade 7 while parental presence in Grade 7 was most predictive of a positive transition experience. Much of the literature describes the correlates or outcomes of a negative transition experience. Our study contributes a new perspective on transition: using longitudinal data to examine the supports available to young people in primary school that lay the foundation for positive expectations and experiences of the transition to secondary school. These findings complement recent studies describing the important role of peer, teacher, and school connectedness as powerful predictors of students’ improved social and emotional health [11,12,24,26,31] and suggest these supports in primary school have a protective influence before and at the time of transitioning to secondary school. Although all levels of support were predictive of students’ expectations and experience of transition, when considered together two very different types of support became the single significant predictors of the expectation and experience independently. First, higher levels of perceived support from students were most predictive of students’ expectations (Grade 7) of the impending transition. Therefore, although teacher and school connectedness and parental support are important, peers are the most influential before the transition in helping to set positive expectations of the move to secondary school. Consistent with this finding is the literature suggesting young people rely on their peers for support as they enter adolescence [36]. Moreover, this finding suggests the friendships young people create over many years in primary school are on the whole, a very positive source of social support. On the other hand, it is the potential unsettling of these friendship groups that garners some of the fears young people have in moving to a new school context [9]. Conversely, parental presence in Grade 7 (at home before and after school and at meal times) was the most significant predictor of students actual transition experience in Grade 8. This lends itself to the argument that although peers are important in the “here and now,” parental presence and the implied support this
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Table 4 Multinomial logistic regression predictors of transition expectation Transition expectation
Easyd Peer supportc School connectedness Teacher connectedness Parent-family connectedness Closeness Presence Listens Somewhat easyd Peer supportc School connectedness Teacher connectedness Parent-family connectedness Closeness Presence Listens Somewhat difficult Peer support School connectedness Teacher connectedness Parent-family connectedness Closeness Presence Listens Don’t know Peer support School connectedness Teacher connectedness Parent-family connectedness Closeness Presence Listens a b c d * **
Model 1a
Model 2b
OR
95% CI
p
OR
95% CI
p
13.24 2.73 1.73
(6.13, 28.60) (1.81, 4.11) (1.29, 2.32)
