Adolescents’ perceptions of school support and their mental health

Abstract

Abstract: Adolescents aged 10-19 represent about 16 percent of the world’s total population (UNICEF, 2023). Global statistics show rising numbers of adolescents who experience mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and psychosomatic health complaints. A growing body of research has recognized the relationship between adolescents’ mental health and aspects of their school environment. Some studies have shed light on the role of the school as a protective factor while others have been concerned that schools prioritize academic demands over adolescents’ mental health. However, it is still unknown what aspects of the school environment protect adolescents from mental health problems versus those that increase their risk. Thus, the main purpose of this paper was to examine whether adolescents’ perceptions of school support predicted their depression, self-esteem, anxiety, and psychosomatic health complaints, after controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, and grade. Data were collected in 2015 from an online survey with 4,380 students from grade 3 through 12 from 14 schools in a rural district in the Southeastern United States. We used several one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) to examine differences in mean scores of depression, anxiety, self-esteem and psychosomatic health complaints of adolescents by gender, race/ethnicity, and school grade. Linear and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine whether adolescents’ perceptions of school support predicted their depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and psychosomatic health complaints, controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, and grade. Results showed that adolescents’ perceptions of school support significantly predicted their depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and psychosomatic health complaints when controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, and grade. Findings of this study highlight the need for practices to increase social support to all students especially those who may be at risk for mental health problems. Keywords: Depression, Anxiety, Self-esteem, Psychosomatic Health Complaints, School Support.