School Climate and K–12 Student Mental Health: A Systematic Review of the Literature

• In Event: Climate Matters: An Examination of Factors That Impact the Schooling Experience

Abstract

This paper reviews the relationship between school climate and students’ mental health in the K-12 grades. Researchers consider positive school climate to be multidimensional and essential for a positive school setting. We focused on mental health symptoms and disorders that reflect mental distress or psychopathology. Most studies found an association between at least one measure of school climate and at least one domain of psychological symptoms. However, there was also room for potential single source bias, since most articles used student reports of both school climate and mental health.

Authors

• Alison Klebanoff Cohen, University of California - Berkeley

• Emily Ozer, University of California - Berkeley

• Julianna Deardorff, University of California - Berkeley