title: Protective associations of school connectedness with risk of depression in Nova Scotia adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether school connectedness demonstrated an independent protective association with risk of depression in students in grades 10 to 12 attending a high school in a rural community in southwestern Nova Scotia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Students at a high school in rural Nova Scotia participated in a self-completion survey in May 2009. Students were asked about a wide range of health-related factors to determine their needs for health services and promotion. Examining girls and boys separately, we used logistic regression to examine associations of an established measure of school connectedness with risk of depression as measured by the 12-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale, while including numerous potential confounding variables in our models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 95.2% among registered students present in class during the survey. Four hundred eight students (216 girls and 192 boys) completed both the CES-D12 and the School Connectedness Scale. Higher school connectedness was independently protective of risk of depression in girls (OR 0.85; 95% CI 0.78 to 0.93, P < 0.01) and in boys (OR 0.81; 95% CI 0.71 to 0.91, P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among adolescents in rural Nova Scotia, higher school connectedness has protective associations with risk of depression in both girls and boys, independent of a wide range of factors known to be associated with depression in adolescents. School may be a key place for helping adolescents to develop positive mental health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. donald.langille@dal.ca
authors.forename: Don
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Langille
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rasic
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kisely
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Flowerdew
authors.forename: Shelley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cobbett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009674:Nova Scotia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012929:Psychological Distance; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012934:Social Isolation / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult