Associate Professor Kelly-Ann Allen says adolescence is an important time for school belonging – and as lead author of a groundbreaking study that sheds light on the crucial role school belonging plays in shaping mental well-being in adolescents, the member of Monash University’s Faculty of Education has the data to prove it.
School belonging – characterised by positive attitudes towards school, strong relationships with teachers, and feeling socially valued – has long been associated with immediate benefits for students’ mental health.
Research explores transition to adulthood
For many, the transition from childhood to adulthood represents a major shift in identity and independence. Peer groups become a high priority for adolescents and research shows that experiences of things like rejection, ostracism, and social isolation can be quite detrimental to young people’s mental health.
Interestingly, other research shows that school belonging declines in the middle years of high school. And in an Australian context, approximately one in three students don’t feel like they belong at school.
Collaborative insights into mental health
The project was a collaboration between Monash University, Deakin University, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne. Researchers studied over 1,500 young adults in one of Australia’s longest-running population-based socio-emotional development studies to reveal the long-term mental health outcomes of school belonging on the transition to adulthood.
The research assessed school belonging at the age of 15–16 and mental health symptoms at age 19–20, 23–24, and 27–28 years.
Reducing anxiety and stress
As lead author, Associate Professor Allen says the findings indicate that higher levels of school belonging are linked to lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress in young adulthood.
“The study highlights the significance of adolescent school belonging, particularly the feeling of being socially valued, as a protective factor against later mental health issues. The results emphasise the need for sustained interventions and programs that extend beyond the school setting, establishing a strong foundation for positive engagement in various environments during the transition to adulthood,” Associate Professor Allen says.
Connections with teachers are critical
In the study, Associate Professor Allen told EducationDaily the researchers looked at school belonging by exploring things like positive emotions associated with school, connections with teachers, feelings of being socially valued, the relevance of school to participants’ futures, and their confidence in their abilities.
“We found no differences between males and females regarding the associations between school belonging and mental health outcomes,” she says.
“These associations did not vary; both males and females exhibited similar mental health benefits from a strong sense of school belonging.”
Inclusion is key
Although the study did not specifically look at what school belonging did not look like, Associate Professor Allen told EducationDaily that, based on work she has done previously, “students describe not belonging in terms of not feeling included or accepted”.
“That might describe feeling awkward at school or unsafe. Feeling uncomfortable at school is another way students describe not belonging.”
Her own interest in the area was sparked by her observation that, when it came to building belonging in schools, “some schools did this better than others”.
“And you knew this by the way people would talk about their former school or even their parents would talk about it,” she told EducationDaily.
“Alongside this, I knew about the benefits of belonging, but I wondered ‘what are the ingredients of creating a climate or culture where everyone feels a sense of belonging, what could schools be doing to help students to belong?'”
As someone who has spent a long time advocating for the importance of belonging in schools for a long time, Associate Professor Allen says she was “well aware of the benefits” of belonging but was “surprised to see how long the benefits of feeling a sense of belonging at school can actually last in this study”.
Recognition of belonging is a vital trend
According to Dr Meredith O’Connor from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, these findings come at a crucial time, as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) identifies belonging as a major trend in education with the potential to counteract increasing loneliness, social isolation and mental health problems in many societies.
“The long-term follow-up of individuals within the Australian Temperament Project allowed us to examine how experiences of school belonging mattered for young adults’ wellbeing almost a decade later, which is a unique and important contribution to the existing evidence base,” Dr O’Connor says.
Julie Young, Principal of Foundation College adds: “Students have immensely different backgrounds and, when students feel connected to school, we find this common thread supports their growth and achievement. It builds confidence and in turn we find it supports their mental health.”
Acceptance, respect and future-proofing
The research outlines the importance of school belonging as an intervention target with lasting impacts on mental health. As schools and communities seek to address the challenges faced by today’s youth, focusing on initiatives that enhance students’ sense of acceptance and respect within the school environment becomes paramount.
If we are interested in preventing mental health problems in adults, Associate Professor Allen says “targeting children and adolescent’s sense of belonging to school needs to be a part of a proactive plan to do that”.
“There has been a surge in interest in belonging research following COVID, so a big outcome of this finding needs to help make sure that belonging stays as a priority,” she told EducationDaily.
“That appropriate funding is invested in ensuring we have adequate and free interventions available to all educational contexts, support for families and educators and resources that speak directly to children and adolescents. By building belonging early we are future-proofing the mental health and well-being of children”
