School Belongingness and Mental Health Functioning across the Primary-Secondary Transition in a Mainstream Sample: Multi-Group Cross-Lagged Analyses
The relationship between school belongingness and mental health functioning before and after the primary-secondary school transition has not been previously investigated in students with and without disabilities. This study used a prospective longitudinal design to test the bi-directional relationsh...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
PLOS
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36725 |
| _version_ | 1848754850270019584 |
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| author | Vaz, Sharmila Falkmer, Marita Parsons, Richard Passmore, Anne Parkin, Timothy Falkmer, Torbjorn |
| author_facet | Vaz, Sharmila Falkmer, Marita Parsons, Richard Passmore, Anne Parkin, Timothy Falkmer, Torbjorn |
| author_sort | Vaz, Sharmila |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The relationship between school belongingness and mental health functioning before and after the primary-secondary school transition has not been previously investigated in students with and without disabilities. This study used a prospective longitudinal design to test the bi-directional relationships between these constructs, by surveying 266 students with and without disabilities and their parents, 6-months before and after the transition to secondary school. Cross-lagged multi-group analyses found student perception of belongingness in the final year of primary school to contribute to change in their mental health functioning a year later. The beneficial longitudinal effects of school belongingness on subsequent mental health functioning were evident in all student subgroups; even after accounting for prior mental health scores and the cross-time stability in mental health functioning and school belongingness scores. Findings of the current study substantiate the role of school contextual influences on early adolescent mental health functioning. They highlight the importance for primary and secondary schools to assess students’ school belongingness and mental health functioning and transfer these records as part of the transition process, so that appropriate scaffolds are in place to support those in need. Longer term longitudinal studies are needed to increase the understanding of the temporal sequencing between school belongingness and mental health functioning of all mainstream students. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:46:57Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-36725 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:46:57Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | PLOS |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-367252017-09-13T15:19:08Z School Belongingness and Mental Health Functioning across the Primary-Secondary Transition in a Mainstream Sample: Multi-Group Cross-Lagged Analyses Vaz, Sharmila Falkmer, Marita Parsons, Richard Passmore, Anne Parkin, Timothy Falkmer, Torbjorn The relationship between school belongingness and mental health functioning before and after the primary-secondary school transition has not been previously investigated in students with and without disabilities. This study used a prospective longitudinal design to test the bi-directional relationships between these constructs, by surveying 266 students with and without disabilities and their parents, 6-months before and after the transition to secondary school. Cross-lagged multi-group analyses found student perception of belongingness in the final year of primary school to contribute to change in their mental health functioning a year later. The beneficial longitudinal effects of school belongingness on subsequent mental health functioning were evident in all student subgroups; even after accounting for prior mental health scores and the cross-time stability in mental health functioning and school belongingness scores. Findings of the current study substantiate the role of school contextual influences on early adolescent mental health functioning. They highlight the importance for primary and secondary schools to assess students’ school belongingness and mental health functioning and transfer these records as part of the transition process, so that appropriate scaffolds are in place to support those in need. Longer term longitudinal studies are needed to increase the understanding of the temporal sequencing between school belongingness and mental health functioning of all mainstream students. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36725 10.1371/journal.pone.0099576 PLOS fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Vaz, Sharmila Falkmer, Marita Parsons, Richard Passmore, Anne Parkin, Timothy Falkmer, Torbjorn School Belongingness and Mental Health Functioning across the Primary-Secondary Transition in a Mainstream Sample: Multi-Group Cross-Lagged Analyses |
| title | School Belongingness and Mental Health Functioning across the Primary-Secondary Transition in a Mainstream Sample: Multi-Group Cross-Lagged Analyses |
| title_full | School Belongingness and Mental Health Functioning across the Primary-Secondary Transition in a Mainstream Sample: Multi-Group Cross-Lagged Analyses |
| title_fullStr | School Belongingness and Mental Health Functioning across the Primary-Secondary Transition in a Mainstream Sample: Multi-Group Cross-Lagged Analyses |
| title_full_unstemmed | School Belongingness and Mental Health Functioning across the Primary-Secondary Transition in a Mainstream Sample: Multi-Group Cross-Lagged Analyses |
| title_short | School Belongingness and Mental Health Functioning across the Primary-Secondary Transition in a Mainstream Sample: Multi-Group Cross-Lagged Analyses |
| title_sort | school belongingness and mental health functioning across the primary-secondary transition in a mainstream sample: multi-group cross-lagged analyses |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36725 |