Development of Students’ School-Related Cognitions and Emotions: Relevance of School and Personal Resources and Demands

• In Event: School Well-Being: Central Determinants and Effects

Abstract

Students’ well-being (SWB) is one important educational goal – next to the acquisition of academic competencies, personality development, and motivation (e.g., OECD, 2017). Feeling well at school can be, for example, beneficial for academic achievement, and learning processes. Well-being is a multidimensional construct. In the school context, the psychological and social dimension of well-being are of particular importance. Based on the hedonistic approach, the psychological well-being encompasses cognitions and emotions (Bradburn, 1969; Diener, 1984). However, previous studies have rarely systematically taken the multidimensionality of well-being into account.

Over the course of school time, SWB decreases. These changes can be explained via the self-determination (e.g., Ryan & Deci, 2000) and stage-environment fit theory (e.g., Eccles et al., 1993) which emphasize the relevance of environmental and personal factors. Following demands-resources models (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017; Salmela-Aro & Upadyaya, 2014), resources and demands can be environmental, for example school-based, and personal. However, little is known about school and personal resources and demands and their relations with changes in SWB, especially during adolescence as a vital developmental stage and for students in high-achieving environments.

Thus, the present study investigates (1) how important school resources (perceived school atmosphere, counseling service) and demands (psychological need frustration [autonomy, competence, relatedness]) as well as (2) personal resources (hope of success, coping) and demands (fear of failure, depression) are related to changes in central SWB aspects (school satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, peer satisfaction) in a high-achieving student population.

Analyses are based on 1,286 adolescent students from two high-achieving US high schools (46.7% female, MageT1=16.40, SD=0.44) who participated twice (T1: grade 11, T2: grade 12). Participants answered questions regarding social demographics and variables of interest. Reliabilities were at least satisfactory (≥.74). Structural equation models were specified. Constructs were modelled latently. Model fits were satisfactory (χ²/df≤2.09, CFI≥.90, RMSEA≤.03). GPAGrade10 served as control variable.

The school resource perceived school atmosphere was beneficial for the development of emotional exhaustion (β=-.09, SE=0.05). Moreover, using the counseling service often was advantageous for the development of school satisfaction (β=.08, SE=0.04) and emotional exhaustion (β=-.10, SE=0.04). Regarding school demands, frustration of the need for autonomy was detrimental for the development of school (β=-.15, SE=0.06) and peer satisfaction (β=-.23, SE=0.06). When including personal resources and demands, the result pattern remained stable. Only the personal resource hope of success was related to the change in school satisfaction (β=-.10, SE=0.05). Thus, indicating that especially the investigated perceived school-related resources and demands were important for SWB. Overall, the explained variances were large (R²≥.38).

The results advance our knowledge on relevant school and personal resources and demands and their associations with the development of central SWB aspects in high-achieving environments and thus, help determine what are important resources as well as risk factors and consequently possible insertion points to promote SWB in these environments. They also point to the necessity of further exploring environmental and personal resources and demands in the school-context. Increasing our knowledge can inform researchers and practitioners in educational settings about what should be targeted in interventions.

Authors

• Justine Stang-Rabrig, TU Dortmund University

• Matthew Witmer

• Nele McElvany, TU Dortmund University