The association of positive educational experiences with adolescents' depressive symptoms: longitudinal evidence from a trial cohort in English secondary schools.
The school environment influences adolescent health through both individual experiences, such as one's own engagement with school, and broader school-level factors, such as aggregate student levels of engagement, affecting all students. For mental-health outcomes, existing evidence more consistently supports individual-level influences than school-level effects. In relation to depression, negative student-level educational experiences have been associated with increased symptoms, while evidence for school-level associations remains limited and often methodologically weak. We aimed to address this gap through a secondary analysis of longitudinal data from a trial involving 49 English secondary schools.
Student-reported educational experiences (school belonging, educational commitment, participation at school, relationships with teachers and expectation of university) as well as family affluence were measured at baseline (ages 12-13) and depressive symptoms were assessed at follow-up (ages 15-16). Associations were examined at both the individual student and aggregate school level of educational experiences.
Forty-five schools were retained at endline and 4,601 students comprised our analytical sample. At the student level, greater school belonging (beta coefficient = -0.24; 95% confidence interval = -0.29, -0.19) and educational commitment (beta coefficient = -0.19; 95% confidence interval = -0.29, -0.08) were associated with lower risk of depressive symptoms in fully adjusted models. At the school level, only overall educational commitment was associated with reduced depressive symptoms in a partially but not fully adjusted model (beta coefficient = -1.02; 95% confidence interval = -1.86, -0.18).
These findings suggest that educational experiences influence depressive symptoms primarily through individual-level mechanisms, for example involving students' sense of belonging, engagement, participation and relationships) but the general level of educational commitment within a school may also play a meaningful role. (249 words).
Student-reported educational experiences (school belonging, educational commitment, participation at school, relationships with teachers and expectation of university) as well as family affluence were measured at baseline (ages 12-13) and depressive symptoms were assessed at follow-up (ages 15-16). Associations were examined at both the individual student and aggregate school level of educational experiences.
Forty-five schools were retained at endline and 4,601 students comprised our analytical sample. At the student level, greater school belonging (beta coefficient = -0.24; 95% confidence interval = -0.29, -0.19) and educational commitment (beta coefficient = -0.19; 95% confidence interval = -0.29, -0.08) were associated with lower risk of depressive symptoms in fully adjusted models. At the school level, only overall educational commitment was associated with reduced depressive symptoms in a partially but not fully adjusted model (beta coefficient = -1.02; 95% confidence interval = -1.86, -0.18).
These findings suggest that educational experiences influence depressive symptoms primarily through individual-level mechanisms, for example involving students' sense of belonging, engagement, participation and relationships) but the general level of educational commitment within a school may also play a meaningful role. (249 words).
Authors
Melendez-Torres Melendez-Torres, Muraleetharan Muraleetharan, Lewis Lewis, Ponsford Ponsford, Meiksin Meiksin, Lohan Lohan, Sundaram Sundaram, Young Young, Campbell Campbell, Bonell Bonell
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