Poster #122 - School belonging, and psychosocial and educational outcomes among Elementary School Students in China

• In Event: 2-002 - Special Poster Session 05 with Continental Breakfast Reception
  In Poster Session: PS 05 - International Section

Integrative Statement

Students’ sense of school belongings has been defined as “the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school environment” (Goodenow, 1993, p. 80). It has been linked to positive psychosocial and educational outcomes, such as less bullying victimization, less internalizing symptoms (Osternman, 2000; Booker, 2007; Cemalcilar, 2010), and better academic achievement (Goodenow & Grady, 1993). In addition, students with internalizing symptoms are at risk for negative peer interactions, such as peer victimization, although some researchers suggest that the relationship between victimization and internalizing symptoms are like a “vicious cycle” (Hodges & Perry, 1999; Turner et al, 2014). Based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, school belonging may buffer the negative relationship between internalizing symptoms and victimization because it provides additional support for struggling students. However, most studies were conducted in Western culture. There are few large studies exploring the relationships between school belonging and youth outcomes in China where collectivism, social harmony, and education are greatly valued.

This study examined the relationships between school belonging, internalizing symptoms, academic performance, and victimization over time. It also investigated whether school belonging moderates the relationship between internalizing symptoms at Time (T) 2 and victimization at T2 as well as the relationship between internalizing symptoms at T1 and victimization at T2. Survey data were collected from 969 Chinese elementary school students from Grade 3 to Grade 6 (M age= 10.53, SD=0.41, 43.2% female) from five schools in five cities in China over two time points (November 2017, and May 2018). School belonging was measured by Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale (PSSM; Goodenow, 1993) which has been validated in China (Pan, Wang, Song, Ding, & Dai, 2011).

We first examined how different components of PSSM predicts youth outcomes. In regression, acceptance, one of the three components of sense of school belonging at T1, predicted different youth outcomes: internalizing symptoms T2 (β = -0.24, p < .01), self-reported academic achievement T2 (β = -0.01, p < .05), victimization T2 (β = -0.17, p < .01).

Sense of school belonging total at T2 moderated the relationship between internalizing symptoms T2 and victimization T2 by serving as a buffer, β = -0.13, p < .001 (Table 1). The simple slope test showed that the effect of internalizing symptoms on victimization for the high belonging group (b = 0.29, p < .001) and the low belonging group (b = 0.45, p < .001) were both significant, but the effect of internalizing symptoms on victimization was reduced with higher sense of school belonging (see Figure 1).

Findings highlight the important role of school belonging on youth outcomes over time in China. In addition, school belonging can buffer the negative impact of internalizing symptoms on peer victimization. Results suggest that it is important for school staff to make school a welcoming and supportive place for all students in order to promote positive psychosocial and educational outcomes for Chinese students.

Authors

• Cixin Wang, Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education,University of Maryland
  Presenting Author

• Qianyu Zhu, Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, University of Maryland
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jocelyn Yao, Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education,University of Maryland
  Non-Presenting Author