Overview

Abstract (English)

Problem behaviour during adolescence is a pressing societal concern. While extensive work has been conducted to identify relevant risk and protective factors, comparatively little attention has been paid to the role the school may play in protecting against maladaptive outcomes. Employing a socio-ecological framework, this dissertation began by exploring trajectories of problem behaviour and school connectedness across the early to mid-adolescent period in a sample of 2,396 youth drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Three trajectories of problem behaviour were identified, with the large majority of youth showing little to no problem behaviour over time. Two trajectories of school connectedness were also identified as well as a general downward trend in connectedness across the study period. Multivariate analysis was used to explore the impact of risk and protective factors on trajectory group membership. Results were generally consistent with existing literature though importantly this study established a strong association between school connectedness and problem behaviour. Specifically, youth on the decreasing trajectory of school connectedness were between 2.2 and 4.5 times more likely to fall onto either of the concerning problem behaviour trajectories. The second paper followed a sample of 139 youth with matching teacher- and principal-report data to examine factors at the level of student, classroom, and school that predicted change in school connectedness two years later. While much of the variance in connectedness at time two was accounted for by individual-level variables, several classroom and school factors emerged. Specifically, teacher support for managing discipline problems within the classroom was found to predict improved connectedness whereas low school socioeconomic status was associated with worse connectedness by time 2. As well, an interaction was identified between student problem behaviour trajectories and the percentage of low income families within the school such that students attending lower socioeconomic status schools who engaged in delinquent behaviour were significantly less likely to report feeling connected to their school. Taken together, these findings underscore the importance of considering school connectedness as a key protective variable for adolescent problem behaviour. Implications for policy and practice are also discussed.

Abstract (French)

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