Avoiding a Climate Crisis in Cincinnati Schools: Assessing Associations between School Climate, School Safety and Student Mental Health Outcomes within the Context of an Authoritative Model
Start Date
2023 4:00 PM
Location
Alter Hall Poster Session 2 - 2nd floor
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing alarming trends in youth mental health (CDC, 2020; Kalb et al., 2019; Reinert, Fritze, and Nguyen, 2021). In 2021, the United States’ Surgeon General declared a state of national emergency in youth mental health, making essential recommendations for intervention in the institutions most proximal to the lives of young people, like the school (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2021) (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2021). Authoritative School Climate Theory (ASCT) is a framework for analyzing the effects of the school environment on scholastic, behavioral, and psychosocial outcomes for students (Cornell et al., 2016). Findings of the present study indicate that students’ mental health outcomes are significantly (p = 0.000) associated with perceived feelings of support (r = 0.605), structure (r = 0.187), and safety (r= 0.305) from peers and teachers at school. The study provides support for the inclusion and expansion of authoritative school climate items in subsequent scholastic assessments, and projects that data collection over time can aid in instituting authoritative school climate-based interventions to ameliorate current trends in youth mental health in Cincinnati schools (MHA, 2022; Morrison, Furlong, and Morrison, 1994; Ohio State Legislature, 2021).
Avoiding a Climate Crisis in Cincinnati Schools: Assessing Associations between School Climate, School Safety and Student Mental Health Outcomes within the Context of an Authoritative Model
Alter Hall Poster Session 2 - 2nd floor
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing alarming trends in youth mental health (CDC, 2020; Kalb et al., 2019; Reinert, Fritze, and Nguyen, 2021). In 2021, the United States’ Surgeon General declared a state of national emergency in youth mental health, making essential recommendations for intervention in the institutions most proximal to the lives of young people, like the school (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2021) (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2021). Authoritative School Climate Theory (ASCT) is a framework for analyzing the effects of the school environment on scholastic, behavioral, and psychosocial outcomes for students (Cornell et al., 2016). Findings of the present study indicate that students’ mental health outcomes are significantly (p = 0.000) associated with perceived feelings of support (r = 0.605), structure (r = 0.187), and safety (r= 0.305) from peers and teachers at school. The study provides support for the inclusion and expansion of authoritative school climate items in subsequent scholastic assessments, and projects that data collection over time can aid in instituting authoritative school climate-based interventions to ameliorate current trends in youth mental health in Cincinnati schools (MHA, 2022; Morrison, Furlong, and Morrison, 1994; Ohio State Legislature, 2021).
