title: The impact of personal background and school contextual factors on academic competence and mental health functioning across the primary-secondary school transition.
abstract: Students negotiate the transition to secondary school in different ways. While some thrive on the opportunity, others are challenged. A prospective longitudinal design was used to determine the contribution of personal background and school contextual factors on academic competence (AC) and mental health functioning (MHF) of 266 students, 6-months before and after the transition to secondary school. Data from 197 typically developing students and 69 students with a disability were analysed using hierarchical linear regression modelling. Both in primary and secondary school, students with a disability and from socially disadvantaged backgrounds gained poorer scores for AC and MHF than their typically developing and more affluent counterparts. Students who attended independent and mid-range sized primary schools had the highest concurrent AC. Those from independent primary schools had the lowest MHF. The primary school organisational model significantly influenced post-transition AC scores; with students from Kindergarten--Year 7 schools reporting the lowest scores, while those from the Kindergarten--Year 12 structure without middle school having the highest scores. Attending a school which used the Kindergarten--Year 12 with middle school structure was associated with a reduction in AC scores across the transition. Personal background factors accounted for the majority of the variability in post-transition AC and MHF. The contribution of school contextual factors was relatively minor. There is a potential opportunity for schools to provide support to disadvantaged students before the transition to secondary school, as they continue to be at a disadvantage after the transition.
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Centre for Research into Disability and Society, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Sharmila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vaz
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parsons
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; School of Occupational Therapy, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Medicine and Health Sciences (IMH), Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University & Pain and Rehabilitation Centre, UHL, County Council, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Torbjörn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Falkmer
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Anne Elizabeth
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Passmore
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; School of Education and Communication, CHILD programme, Institution of Disability Research Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Marita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falkmer
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires