High School Social Climate and Antisocial Behavior: A 10 Year Longitudinal and Multilevel Study

A longitudinal and multilevel approach is used to examine the relationship between antisocial behavior during adolescence and high school social climate. The data are taken from a longitudinal study of 1,233 boys and girls who attended 217 public and private high schools. Students' disruptive behaviors were assessed yearly from 6 to 12 years of age. High school social climate was assessed by teachers, and students reported on their violent and nonviolent antisocial behavior while in high school. The multilevel analyses revealed (1) a large difference between the percentage of variance explained within schools (97%), compared with between schools (3%), and (2) teachers' reports of classroom behavior problems explain between‐school differences in student reported antisocial behavior, after controlling for students' family adversity and history of behavior problems during elementary school. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are examined and future directions for research are discussed.     

Mitigating the effect of family poverty on academic and behavioral outcomes: The role of school climate in middle and high school

The persistent achievement gap between students from poor families and their peers calls for research that examines risk factors associated with poverty and strategies for promoting resilience. Research demonstrates the impact of school climate on behavior and academic achievement, especially in high-poverty schools. The present study examines associations between family poverty, social supports, students' perceptions of school climate, behavior, and grades. Poverty is associated with poor grades and behavior, while positive perceptions of school climate are associated with positive grades and behavior. Perceptions of school climate moderate the association between poverty and behavior, such that students from poor families who perceive a positive school climate exhibit similar behaviors to their peers from higher income families. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.     

Health Risk Behaviors among Adolescents in the Rural South: A Comparison of Race,Gender, and Age

Risky behaviors contribute to many of the physical and mental health problems of today's adolescents. The present study surveyed more than 2,500 high school and middle school students in a rural county in southwest Georgia in an attempt to identify differences in health risk behaviors, including tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use, violence and gang-related behaviors, and student assessment of high-risk behaviors, based on three demographic characteristics: race, gender, and age. Results show that Caucasian students are more likely to use tobacco and alcohol, whereas African-American students are more likely to engage in violent activities. In addition, older students (aged 15+ years) were more likely to use tobacco, alcohol, and drugs and to participate in violent behaviors, and male students are more likely to use tobacco and drugs and to participate in violent behaviors than female students.     

A cross-lagged model of the relationship between violent video game exposure and moral disengagement in middle school and high school students

Previous studies have proved that violent video game exposure might have an association with moral disengagement; however, the directionality of this correlation remains unclear. Therefore, we examined the reciprocal effects between violent video game exposure and moral disengagement in a longitudinal study. The sample included 1393 adolescents (48.7% boys) in the seventh (middle school students, n = 694, M_age = 13.15 years) and tenth (high school students, n = 699, M_age = 15.93 years) grades at six Chinese secondary schools. The results showed that high school students' levels of moral disengagement were higher than those of middle school students, and violent video game exposure was positively associated with moral disengagement. The cross-lagged panel model suggested that violent video game exposure predicted moral disengagement (six months later) in all participants, with a slightly stronger effect in middle school students. The finding also indicated differences in the development of perspective regarding the association between violent video game exposure and moral disengagement, which observed a predictive effect for middle school students but a lagged effect for high school students. Thus, different preventions and interventions should be distinguished for middle school and high school students.     

A Longitudinal Analysis of Cumulative Risks,Cumulative Promotive Factors,and Adolescent Violent Behavior

This study examined the effects of cumulative risk and promotive factors on violent behavior across the high school years of adolescence in a sample of predominately African American urban adolescents (N = 750). Cumulative risk and promotive factor indices represented individual characteristics, and peer, parental, and familial influences. Using growth curve modeling, we describe trajectories of cumulative risk and promotive factors and test the associations between the time‐varying cumulative risk and promotive factor indices and violent behavior. Higher risk was associated with higher levels of violent behavior. Higher levels of promotive factors were associated with less violent behavior and moderated the association between risk and violent behaviors. The results support the risk‐protective model of resiliency. Implications for prevention are discussed.     

To educate or to incarcerate: Factors in disproportionality in school discipline

The school-to-prison pipeline describes the process by which school suspension/expulsion may push adolescents into the justice system disproportionately based on race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender. The current study moves the field forward by analyzing a survey of a diverse sample of 2539 students in 10th to 12th grade in Southern California to examine how demographic, individual, and family factors contribute to disparities in office referral and suspension/expulsion. African Americans, boys, and students whose parents had less education were more likely to be suspended/expelled. Higher levels of student academic preparation for class, hours spent on homework, and academic aspiration were associated with less school discipline. Findings suggest that helping students engage in school may be protective against disproportionate school discipline.     

Household and economic factors associated with geographic and school mobility among low-income children

Child poverty has been shown to have lifelong consequences, and several policy interventions have sought to alleviate its effects. However, federal school policy insufficiently addresses ‘out of school’ factors, including high rates of residential and school mobility among poor students. The detrimental effects of school mobility on achievement and classroom behavior have been well documented, but the literature on the household dynamics associated with residential and school mobility among the poor is limited. This study uses detailed administrative data from Oregon's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to provide more information on residential and school mobility among low-income children of early elementary school age. Changes in household composition, income, employment, residential address, and school catchment were analyzed over several years to measure the relationship between mobility and household dynamics. We find that Oregon children from low-income families have high rates of residential and school mobility and that family dynamics rather than economic opportunity appear to increase the probability of moving. We offer several policy recommendations in light of the findings.     

School and county characteristics as predictors of school rates of drug, alcohol, and tobacco offenses

Despite evidence that school factors are associated with differences in various types of student behavior, little research has explored the predictive utility of school factors for school-level substance offense rates. Using data from the State of Florida Department of Education and the Census, we explore the associations between school climate and school substance offense rates, controlling for county level characteristics. Results from a multilevel analysis show that school culture, school organization, and social milieu predict variation in school substance incident rate. We interpret the findings as consistent with research utilizing the "school culture/school effectiveness" model.     

Discipline,Shaming and Antisocial Attitude in Philadelphia Middle Schools

The U.S. school system has changed fundamentally in its basic approach to social control in recent decades, with harsh approaches to student discipline having increased in popularity despite data showing pronounced and steady declines in incidents of both school violence and juvenile delinquency. This study revisits a sample of students in the Philadelphia School District to examine how perceptions of school rules and administration are associated with antisocial attitudes among students who were recently disciplined. The analysis included measures of interdependency, shaming, and peer association derived from reintegrative shaming theory. Findings from multiple regression analysis show that students who perceived their sanction as reintegrative in the school context were less likely to hold antisocial attitudes. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Correlates contributing to involvement in violent behaviors among young adults

The study examines the extent to which gender, personality attributes, household, community, and environmental factors are associated with violent behaviors in young adulthood. The authors present findings from a sample of 765 21-year-old individuals participating in a drug and delinquency prevention study. Personality attributes, opportunities, and social acceptability of antisocial behaviors were identified as accounting for gender differences and having more influence on violent behavior than environmental correlates. Implications for preventive intervention are discussed.     

School engagement among LGBTQ high school students: The roles of safe adults and gay–straight alliance characteristics

Student school engagement, or the person–environment fit between a student and the student's school, is a construct that has received increasing attention in the school psychology literature in recent years. However, little research has examined this construct among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) students or analyzed whether factors such as access to safe adults, the presence of a Gay–Straight Alliance (GSA), characteristics of a GSA, or personal involvement in a GSA may connect to engagement. The current study used sequential multiple regression to examine data from a sample of LGBTQ high school students (N = 152) from Colorado and found that the greater the number of types of safe adults that a student has access to at school, the higher the student's school engagement. GSA presence was not significantly associated with student school engagement. However, among those students whose school had a GSA (N = 91), the larger, more active, more visible, and more supported a GSA was perceived to be, the more these students were engaged at school. Personal involvement in a GSA did not predict student school engagement. This article discusses implications for school-based practitioners and future research.     

A multi-level analysis of school racial composition and ecological correlates of academic success

Current policy and practice interventions have failed to address disparities in academic success by race/ethnicity or socio-economic status. In addition, as policy interventions to prevent racially segregated schools have stalled, progress toward reducing these achievement gaps has also slowed. This exploratory study employs multi-level modeling to examine how risk and protective factors in students' schools, homes, peer groups, and neighborhoods relate to behavior and academic performance. We examine whether these relationships depend on the racial composition of the school and, in particular, the concentration of African American students in schools. The findings indicate that protective school, home, peer group, and neighborhood environments characterized by social support and safety are associated with positive academic outcomes and behavior. Students attending more segregated schools in which the majority of students are African American report worse behavioral and academic outcomes than students in other schools, even when controlling for other important dimensions of the school environment, school climate, school safety, and poverty. In addition, school racial composition shapes how key protective factors relate to grades.     

Measuring and evaluating school performance: an investigation of status and growth-based achievement indicators

Several school performance indices were evaluated using achievement data from multiple longitudinally matched middle school student cohorts in a large district in the southwestern United States. Measures designed to index the within-cohort achievement status and growth of students as well as the status and growth-based changes that occur over years between different student cohorts were studied. Within- and between-cohort status and growth-based estimates of school performance were generated by applying simple and relatively complex statistical models to the longitudinal time-series data obtained on students. Results indicated that within-cohort status-based estimates were closely related to student demographics and between-cohort estimates were associated with cohort enrollment size and initial performance level. These results suggest that schools may often be rewarded and penalized on the basis of factors over which school personnel have limited or no control. Implications for the measurement and evaluation of school performance are discussed.     

Evaluation of a comprehensive school physical activity program: Be a Champion!

BackgroundComprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAPs) are widely supported to increase physical activity (PA) in schools, but little has been reported to inform a comprehensive evaluation effort. The purpose of this report is to describe a comprehensive evaluation and monitoring strategy for CSPAP implementation.MethodsThe System for Observing Staff Promotion of Activity and Nutrition (SOSPAN), System for Observing Student Movement in Academic Routines and Transitions (SOSMART), and System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity (SOPLAY) were employed to record student and staff behaviors (2642 total scans). To assess policies, practices, and environments, a CSPAP Policies and Practices questionnaire was used, which included components of the School Health Index, the School PA Policy Assessment, the School Environment and Policies Survey, and the School Health Policies and Practices Study. Youth PA (minutes/day) was assessed using accelerometers.ResultsWorking with school sites to ascertain the number of opportunities that are provided for PA and the amount of PA students engage in is challenging but feasible. The use of systematic observation, accelerometers, and questionnaires can provide a comprehensive representation of policies, practices, and behaviors to aid in establishing targeted PA action items.ConclusionsDeveloping an evaluation framework that was rigorous enough to assess the physical, social, and policy environment of a school in order to answer the overarching research questions of the study but flexible enough to be feasibly streamlined for utilization by a school implementation team proved to be challenging but possible.     

A systematic review of evidence-based interventions for students with challenging behaviors in school settings

The author's systematic review of 2,294 articles from 10 journals in the fields of education, special education, school social work, school psychology, and school counseling identified 42 articles meeting search criteria of addressing evidence-based interventions for students with challenging behaviors in school settings. Interventions were considered evidence-based if they were (a) manualized or structured to facilitate replication; (b) evaluated with an experimental design; and (c) demonstrated to be effective. Current practices available to address students who require evidence-based interventions for challenging behaviors are summarized. Suggestions for intervention development to address the needs of students with difficult behaviors are offered.     

A Tobit Regression Analysis of the Covariation Between Middle School Students' Perceived School Climate and Behavioral Problems

This study uses an ecological framework to examine how adolescents' perceptions of school climate in 6th grade covary with the probability and frequency of their engagement in problem behaviors in 7th and 8th grades. Tobit analysis was used to address the issue of having a highly skewed outcome variable with many zeros and yet account for censoring. The 677 participating students from 8 schools were followed from 6th through 8th grade. The proportions of students reporting a positive school climate perception decreased over the middle school years for both genders, while the level of problem behavior engagement increased. The findings suggested that students who perceived higher levels of school discipline and order or more positive student–teacher relationships were associated with lower probability and frequency of subsequent behavioral problems.     

A cross-country comparison of alcohol,tobacco, and marijuana use among youth who are employed,in school or out of the labor force and school (OLFS)

Labor force and school attachment may influence alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use in the US and Canada. Differences in social welfare provision, which provide protections for individuals with insecure attachments to the labor force or education, may in turn impact the behavior and health of youth in these countries. Yet, there is little research to understand the health consequences for youth of being out of the labor force and school (OLFS). Data of 25–29 year old participants of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (year 2010) and the Canadian Community Health Survey (2009–2010) were used to examine differences in substance use by labor force and school attachment. Logistic regression suggests that OLFS in the US and Canada were less likely to report alcohol uptake and more likely to use tobacco compared to employed youth. Unemployment was differentially associated with substance use behaviors by country. Country of residence and subsequent exposure to social welfare policy does not appear to impact substance use behaviors among OLFS. However, associations of unemployment and gender by country indicates differences in substance use behavior. More research should seek to understand factors that influence alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use among OLFS and unemployed youth.     

Correlates of violent and nonviolent victimization in a sample of public high school students

This study investigates the extent to which student reports of violent and nonviolent victimization in public high schools is associated the presence of hate-related words or symbols, the availability of hard and soft drugs, and the presence of gangs. Data from the 1999 School Crime Supplement of the National Crime Victimization Survey were used for this analysis. In the final multinomial logistic regression model, the presence of hate-related words, the availability of hard drugs, and a gang presence were significantly associated with reports of violent victimization. The availability of soft drugs was significantly associated with nonviolent victimization. Findings held across gender, race/ethnicity, and urbanicity of the school's location with younger students more likely to be both violently and nonviolently victimized than older students. Implications for primary and secondary interventions aimed at school climate and the reduction of correlates of victimization are discussed.     

Emotional school engagement among minority youth: the relevance of cultural identity,perceived discrimination,and perceived support

ABSTRACT

Minority student school dropout represents a challenging issue for educational systems in many countries. Notwithstanding minority families' overall high academic aspirations, there is a stable achievement gap between majority and minority students. Minority students who are emotionally engaged with their school tend to be psychologically and socioculturally better adapted to their country of residence and, as a result, report higher academic success. Therefore, emotional school engagement represents a relevant factor for integration into the host society. The goal of this paper is to investigate the interrelation between ethnic and national identity, perceived discrimination, and perceived support from parents, peers, and teachers with emotional school engagement. Results indicate that cultural capital within the family, cultural self-identification, and perceived support from peers and teachers play an important role for students’ emotional school engagement.     

Gambling and Correlates of Gambling Among Minnesota Public School Students

This study examines the prevalence of gambling and measures the relationships between gambling behavior and a number of demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral variables among Minnesota public school students. The sample includes 78,582 male and female Minnesota public school students enrolled in the 9th and 12th grades. Students were administered the 1998 Minnesota Student Survey, a 121-item, anonymous, self-administered, paper-and-pencil questionnaire that inquires about multiple health-related content domains, including gambling behavior. The majority of students were found to have gambled at least once during the past year, however, most students did not report gambling frequently, nor did they report problems associated with their gambling. Boys reported gambling more often than girls, and older students gambled more often than younger students. A larger percentage of Mexican/Latin American, African American, American Indian, and mixed race students gambled at weekly and daily rates than Asian American and Caucasian students. Variables associated with gambling frequency included antisocial behavior, gender (being a male), alcohol and tobacco use, age, feeling bad about the amount of money they bet, a desire to stop gambling, and increased sexual activity. Gambling appears to be related to other risk-taking behaviors and may be a part of the adolescent experimentation with adult behaviors.