School context and subjective distress: The influence of teacher justice and school-specific well-being on adolescents’ psychological health

Abstract

Notwithstanding the large consensus on the idea that justice should be favoured in school contexts to promote student well-being, there is still a lack of research that has investigated how the experience of justice at school spreads impact on global adolescent psychological health. The aim of this study is to investigate the degree to which the experience of teacher (in)justice is possibly related to some of the indicators of adolescent global psychological health, namely individual and social functioning, psychological problems, and somatic symptoms. We also test the role of two components of school-specific well-being, i.e., emotional engagement and classroom connectedness, here considered as potential mediators between teacher justice and psychological health. Structural equation modelling indicated that teacher justice is positively associated with emotional engagement, classroom connectedness and individual functioning, and negatively related to psychological problems. The relation from teacher justice to individual functioning was partially mediated by emotional engagement and classroom connectedness. The relation from teacher justice to social functioning and somatic symptoms was fully mediated by classroom connectedness, while a partial mediation was found between teacher justice and psychological problems via classroom connectedness. These results are commented at the light of their implications for teacher practices.

Keywords

classroom connectedness mental health psychological health student engagement teacher justice

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Berti

Mameli

Speltini

Molinari

(2016) Teacher justice and parent support as predictors of learning motivation and visions of a just world. Issues in Educational Research 26(4): 543–560. http://www.iier.org.au/iier26/berti.pdf .

Biolcati

Agostini

Mancini

(2017) Analytical psychodrama with college students suffering from mental health problems: Preliminary outcomes. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome 20(3): 201–209. doi: 10.4081/ripppo.2017.272.

Biolcati

Palareti

Mameli

(2018) What adolescents seeking help teach us about a school-based counseling service. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 35(1): 45–56. doi: 10.1007/s10560-017-0503-7.

Chory‐Assad

R. M.

(2002) Classroom justice: Perceptions of fairness as a predictor of student motivation, learning, and aggression. Communication Quarterly 50(1): 58–77. doi: 10.1080/01463370209385646.

Correia

Dalbert

(2007) Belief in a just world, justice concerns, and well-being at Portuguese schools. European Journal of Psychology of Education 22(4): 421–437. doi: 10.1007/BF03173464.

Crespo

Jose

P. E.

Kielpikowski

Pryor

(2013) ‘On solid ground’: Family and school connectedness promotes adolescents’ future orientation. Journal of Adolescence 36(5): 993–1002. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.08.004.

De Fraine

Van Landeghem

Van Damme

Onghena

(2005) An analysis of wellbeing in secondary school with multilevel growth curve models and multilevel multivariate models. Quality and Quantity 39(3): 297–316. doi: 10.1007/s11135-004-5010-1.

Dalbert

Stoeber

(2006) The personal belief in a just world and domain-specific beliefs about justice at school and in the family: A longitudinal study with adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Development 30: 200–207. doi: 10.1177/0165025406063638.

De Vogli

Ferrie

J. E.

Chandola

Kivimäki

Marmot

M. G.

(2007) Unfairness and health: evidence from the Whitehall II Study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 61(6): 513–518. doi: 10.1136/jech.2006.052563.

10.

Donat

Peter

Dalbert

Kamble

S. V.

(2016) The meaning of students’ personal belief in a just world for positive and negative aspects of school-specific well-being. Social Justice Research 29(1): 73–102. doi: 10.1007/s11211-015-0247-5.

11.

Donat

Umlauft

Dalbert

Kamble

S. V.

(2012) Belief in a just world, teacher justice, and bullying behavior. Aggressive Behavior 38(3): 185–193. doi: 10.1002/ab.21421.

12.

Dwyer

K. K.

Bingham

S. G.

Carlson

R. E.

Prisbell

Cruz

A. M.

Fus

D. A.

(2004) Communication and connectedness in the classroom: Development of the connected classroom climate inventory. Communication Research Reports 21(3): 264–272. doi: 10.1080/08824090409359988.

13.

Elovainio

Linna

Virtanen

Oksanen

Kivimäki

Pentti

Vahtera

(2013) Perceived organizational justice as a predictor of long-term sickness absence due to diagnosed mental disorders: results from the prospective longitudinal Finnish Public Sector Study. Social science & medicine 91: 39–47. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.05.008.

14.

Evans

Connell

Audin

Sinclair

Barkham

(2005) Rationale and development of a general population well-being measure: Psychometric status of the GP-CORE in a student sample. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling 33(2): 153–173. doi: 10.1080/03069880500132581.

15.

Evans

Connell

Barkham

Margison

McGrath

Mellor-Clark

Audin

(2002) Towards a standardised brief outcome measure: psychometric properties and utility of the CORE—OM. The British Journal of Psychiatry 180(1): 51–60. doi: 10.1192/bjp.180.1.51.

16.

Finn

J. D.

Zimmer

K. S.

(2012) Student engagement: What is it? Why does it matter? In: Christenson

S. L.

Reschly

A. L.

Wylie

(eds) Handbook of research on student engagement, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 97–131.

17.

Furlong

M. J.

You

Renshaw

T. L.

O’Malley

M. D.

Rebelez

(2013) Preliminary development of the Positive Experiences at School Scale for elementary school children. Child Indicators Research 6(4): 753–775. doi: 10.1007/s12187-013-9193-7.

18.

Gore

Aseltine

(1995) Protective processes in adolescence: Matching stressors with social resources. American Journal of Community Psychology 23(3): 301–327. doi: 10.1007/BF02506947.

19.

Grant

K. E.

Compas

B. E.

Thurm

A. E.

McMahon

S. D.

Gipson

P. Y.

Campbell

A. J.

et al. (2006) Stressors and child and adolescent psychopathology: Evidence of moderating and mediating effects. Clinical Psychology Review 26(3): 257–283. doi: doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2005.06.011.

20.

Hascher

(2008) Quantitative and qualitative research approaches to assess student well-being. International Journal of Educational Research 47(2): 84–96. doi: 10.1016/j.ijer.2007.11.016.

21.

L. T.

Bentler

P. M.

(1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal 6: 1–55. doi: 10.1080/10705519909540118.

22.

Kamble

S. V.

Dalbert

(2012) Belief in a just world and wellbeing in Indian schools. International Journal of Psychology 47(4): 269–278. doi: 10.1080/00207594.2011.626047.

23.

Kasen

Cohen

Chen

Johnson

J. G.

Crawford

T. N.

(2009) School climate and continuity of adolescent personality disorder symptoms. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 50(12): 1504–1512. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02125.x.

24.

Kern

M. L.

Waters

L. E.

Adler

White

M. A.

(2015) A multidimensional approach to measuring well-being in students: Application of the PERMA framework. The Journal of Positive Psychology 10(3): 262–271. doi: 10.1080/17439760.2014.936962.

25.

Kivimäki

Vahtera

Elovainio

Virtanen

Siegrist

(2007) Effort-reward imbalance, procedural injustice and relational injustice as psychosocial predictors of health: complementary or redundant models? Occupational and Environmental Medicine. doi: 10.1136/oem.2006.031310.

26.

Lam

Jimerson

Wong

B. P. H.

Kikas

Shin

Veiga

F. H.

et al. (2014) Understanding and measuring student engagement in school: the results of an international study from 12 countries. School Psychology Quarterly: The Official Journal of the Division of School Psychology, American Psychological Association 29(2): 213–232. doi: 10.1037/spq0000057.

27.

Lawson

M. A.

Lawson

H. A.

(2013) New conceptual frameworks for student engagement research, policy, and practice. Review of Educational Research 83(3): 432–479. doi: 10.3102/0034654313480891.

28.

Lawson

K. J.

Noblet

A. J.

Rodwell

J. J.

(2009) Promoting employee wellbeing: the relevance of work characteristics and organizational justice. Health Promotion International 24(3): 223–233. doi: 10.1093/heapro/dap025.

29.

Lerner

R. M.

(2011) Trajectories of school engagement during adolescence: implications for grades, depression, delinquency, and substance use. Developmental psychology 47(1): 233–247. doi: 10.1037/a0021307.

30.

Mameli

Passini

(2017) Measuring four-dimensional engagement in school: A validation of the Student Engagement Scale and of the Agentic Engagement Scale. TPM: Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology 24(4): 527–541. doi:10.4473/TPM24.4.4.

31.

Mancini

Andrei

Mazzoni

Biolcati

Baldaro

Trombini

(2017) Brief report: Trait emotional intelligence, peer nominations, and scholastic achievement in adolescence. Journal of adolescence 59: 129–133.

32.

McGraw

Moore

Fuller

Bates

(2008) Family, peer and school connectedness in final year secondary school students. Australian Psychologist 43(1): 27–37. doi: 10.1080/00050060701668637.

33.

McNeely

C. A.

Nonnemaker

J. M.

Blum

R. W.

(2002) Promoting school connectedness: Evidence from the national longitudinal study of adolescent health. Journal of School Health 72(4): 138–146. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2002.tb06533.x.

34.

Molinari

Mameli

(2018) Basic psychological needs and school engagement: A focus on justice and agency. Social Psychology of Education 21(1): 157–172. doi: 10.1007/s11218-017-9410-1.

35.

Muthén

L. K.

Muthén

B. O.

(1998–2010) Mplus user’s guide, 6th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.

36.

Palmieri

Evans

Hansen

Brancaleoni

Ferrari

Porcelli

et al. (2009) Validation of the Italian version of the clinical outcomes in routine evaluation outcome measure (CORE‐OM). Clinical psychology & psychotherapy 16(5): 444–449. doi: 10.1002/cpp.646.

37.

Peter

Dalbert

(2010) Do my teachers treat me justly? Implications of students’ justice experience for class climate experience. Contemporary Educational Psychology 35(4): 297–305. doi: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2010.06.001.

38.

Pianta

R. C.

Hamre

Allen

(2012) Teacher-student relationships and engagement: Conceptualizing, measuring, and improving the capacity of classroom interactions. In: Christenson

S. L.

Reschly

A. L.

Wylie

(eds) Handbook of research on student engagement, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 365–386.

39.

Pretsch

Ehrhardt

Engl

Risch

Roth

Schumacher

Schmitt

(2016) Injustice in school and students’ emotions, well-being, and behavior: A longitudinal study. Social Justice Research 29(1): 119–138. doi: 10.1007/s11211-015-0234-x.

40.

Renshaw

T. L.

(2016) Technical adequacy of the Positive Experiences at School Scale with adolescents. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0734282915627920.

41.

Renshaw

T. L.

Long

A. C.

Cook

C. R.

(2015) Assessing adolescents’ positive psychological functioning at school: Development and validation of the Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire. School Psychology Quarterly 30(4): 534–552. doi: 10.1037/spq0000088.

42.

Resh

Sabbagh

(2014) Sense of justice in school and civic attitudes. Social Psychology of Education 17(1): 51–72. doi: 10.1007/s11218-013-9240-8.

43.

Resh

Sabbagh

(2016) Justice and education. In: Sabbagh

Schmitt

(eds) Handbook of social justice theory and research, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 349–367.

44.

Richardson

Elliott

Roberts

Jansen

(2017) A longitudinal study of financial difficulties and mental health in a national sample of British undergraduate students. Community Mental Health Journal 53(3): 344–352. doi: 10.1007/s10597-016-0052-0.

45.

Roffey

(2013) Inclusive and exclusive belonging: The impact on individual and community wellbeing. Educational and Child Psychology 30(1): 38–49.

46.

Rousseau

Salek

Aubé

Morin

E. M.

(2009) Distributive justice, procedural justice, and psychological distress: The moderating effect of coworker support and work autonomy. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 14(3): 305–317. doi: 10.1037/a0015747.

47.

Santinello

Vieno

De Vogli

(2009) Primary headache in Italian early adolescents: the role of perceived teacher unfairness. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain 49(3): 366–374. doi: 10.1111/j.1526-4610.2008.01208.x.

48.

Seligman

M. E. P.

(2011) Flourish, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

49.

Shochet

I. M.

Homel

Cockshaw

W. D.

Montgomery

D. T.

(2008) How do school connectedness and attachment to parents interrelate in predicting adolescent depressive symptoms? Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 37(3): 676–681. doi: 10.1080/15374410802148053.

50.

Shochet

I. M.

Dadds

M. R.

Ham

Montague

(2006) School connectedness is an underemphasized parameter in adolescent mental health: Results of a community prediction study. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 35(2): 170–179. doi: 10.1207/s15374424jccp3502_1.

51.

Suldo

S. M.

Gormley

M. J.

DuPaul

G. J.

Anderson-Butcher

(2014) The impact of school mental health on student and school-level academic outcomes: Current status of the research and future directions. School Mental Health 6(2): 84–98. doi: 10.1007/s12310-013-9116-2.

52.

Tas

(2016) The contribution of perceived classroom learning environment and motivation to student engagement in science. European Journal of Psychology of Education 31(4): 557–577. doi: 10.1007/s10212-016-0303-z.

53.

Taylor

A. B.

MacKinnon

D. P.

Tein

J.-Y.

(2008) Tests of the three-path mediated effect. Organizational Research Methods 11: 241–269. doi: 10.1177/1094428107300344.

54.

Taylor

(1962) Children’s evaluations of the characteristics of a good teacher. British Journal of Educational Psychology 32: 258–266. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1962.tb01769.x.

55.

Taylor

A. J. W.

(2003) Justice as a basic human need. New Ideas in Psychology 21(3): 209–219. doi: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2003.09.004.

56.

Thapa

Cohen

Guffey

Higgins-D’Alessandro

(2013) A review of school climate research. Review of Educational Research 83(3): 357–385. doi: 10.3102/0034654313483907.

57.

Valdez

C. R.

Lambert

S. F.

Ialongo

N. S.

(2011) Identifying patterns of early risk for mental health and academic problems in adolescence: A longitudinal study of urban youth. Child Psychiatry and Human Development 42(5): 521–538. doi: 10.1007/s10578-011-0230-9.

58.

Voelkl

K. E.

(2012) School identification. In: Christenson

S. L.

Reschly

A. L.

Wylie

(eds) Handbook of research on student engagement, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 193–218.

59.

Wang

M. T.

Brinkworth

Eccles

(2013) Moderating effects of teacher–student relationship in adolescent trajectories of emotional and behavioral adjustment. Developmental psychology 49(4): 690. doi: 10.1037/a0027916.

60.

Wang

M. T.

Dishion

T. J.

(2012) The trajectories of adolescents’ perceptions of school climate, deviant peer affiliation, and behavioral problems during the middle school years. Journal of Research on Adolescence 22(1): 40–53. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011.00763.x.

61.

Wang

M. T.

Peck

S. C.

(2013) Adolescent educational success and mental health vary across school engagement profiles. Developmental Psychology 49(7): 1266. doi: 10.1037/a0030028.

62.

Werner

E. E.

Smith

R. S.

(2001) Journeys from childhood to midlife, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.

63.

World Health Organization and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (2014) Social determinants of mental health, Geneva: World Health Organization.