School demands and subjective health complaints among Swedish schoolchildren: a multilevel study.
OBJECTIVE
As children spend a great deal of their time in school, the climate in the classroom can constitute a resource, but also a risk factor in the development of the pupils' health. The aim of the present study was to determine the extent to which demands in the classroom are associated with subjective health complaints in Swedish schoolchildren.


METHODS
Data from the 2001/2002 and 2005/2006 Swedish cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey were analysed using a multilevel logistic regression technique.


RESULTS
The study demonstrated a substantial variation between school classes in pupils' subjective health complaints. In school classes with high demands, the odds of having subjective health complaints was about 50% higher than in school classes with low demands. Further, the results indicated that these effects were mediated by sex so as to girls being more affected by high levels of demands in the school class.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings are important since they point at the crucial role that teachers play in creating a favourable school climate. Therefore interventions aiming at supporting teachers to set realistic demands and expectations are one way to improve the school climate. Such interventions should also make clear the need to take into consideration the fact that the school class effect was mediated by sex, i.e. girls being more vulnerable to high level of school class demands.
Eriksson
Ulrika
U
Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Ostersund, Sweden. Ulrika.Eriksson@miun.se
Sellström
Eva
E
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012574:Schools; D012649:Self Concept; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013663:Teaching; D000078329:Workforce; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology