School relationships and adjustment of minority and majority students

Abstract

Schools provide a key social context for adolescent development. In this thesis, I aimed to investigate the role of teachers, peers, and parents as the crucial agents of socialization who might contribute to, or detriment adolescent school adjustment. I conducted three studies to investigate these connections both longitudinally and concurrently. In studies one and two, I utilized a nationally representative, large dataset of UK adolescents (N = 15110 for study one, N = 13065 for study two) to investigate if relationships with teachers and peers in secondary school would have long-lasting effects on outcomes such as enrolment in Higher education or life satisfaction at 18 or 19 years of age. In my third study, I provided a complex picture of the role of school relationships by investigating seven different types of school relationships and their effects on four different facets of school adjustment among 426 UK adolescents, who completed an online questionnaire. Across all my studies, I repeatedly found that relationships with teachers had a significant effect on adolescents’ school adjustment, and as shown in studies one and two, these effects were long-lasting, having significant effects on outcomes over five years. Furthermore, I found that classmate support was also a significant predictor of positive school outcomes, and parental academic support was important for socio-emotional functioning, suggesting that adolescents benefit additionally and uniquely from different types of perceived support. Overall, I found that school relationships were relatively important for all adolescents regardless of their ethnic or ethno-religious backgrounds. In summary, relationships in secondary school had significant and long-lasting implications for adolescent adjustment. My findings highlight the importance of fair treatment and support in school for all pupils.

Thesis embargoed until 31 July 2027.

Date of Award	Jul 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Sponsors	Department of Education Northern Ireland
Supervisor	Gülseli Baysu (Supervisor) & Rhiannon Turner (Supervisor)