title: School belongingness and mental health functioning across the primary-secondary transition in a mainstream sample: multi-group cross-lagged analyses.
abstract: 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.
authors: 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: Sharmila
authors: S
authors: Vaz
authors: 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: Marita
authors: M
authors: Falkmer
authors: School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, and School of Pharmacy, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Parsons
authors: School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors: Anne Elizabeth
authors: AE
authors: Passmore
authors: School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors: Timothy
authors: T
authors: Parkin
authors: 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, Vic., Australia; Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Medicine and Health Sciences (IMH), Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University and Pain and Rehabilitation Centre, UHL, County Council, Linköping, Sweden.
authors: Torbjörn
authors: T
authors: Falkmer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology