Psychological Development and Education ›› 2014, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (4): 371-379.

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Relations between Perceptions of School Climate and School Adjustment of Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study

ZHANG Guang-zhen, LIANG Zong-bao, DENG Hui-hua, LU Zu-hong   

  1. Research Center for Learning Science/Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science, Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
  • Online:2014-07-15 Published:2014-07-15

Abstract: The present longitudinal study examined long-time effect of school climate on adolescents' school adjustment and the moderate effect of gender on the relations between school climate and school adjustment. Seven hundred and nine early adolescents (355 females) and their head teachers, recruited from Nanjing city in mainland China, participated in the three-wave survey. Adolescents reported school climate which they perceived on the perceived school climate scale, and head teachers rated adolescents' school adjustment on the teacher-child rating scale. Adolescents' academic performance was collected from school records every year.Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that (a) the longitudinal associations between school climate and aspects of adolescents' school adjustment changed with age. Specifically, school climate at the first year significantly predicted adjustment problem and adjustment competence at the second and the third year, however, school climate at the second year predicted adjustment competence and academic performance at third year. (b) In Chinese school, opportunities for student autonomy were negatively associated with school adjustment. (c) Support from teachers and students were positively associated with school adjustment in the first year, however, support from students in the second year negatively predicted adolescents' school adjustment in the third year. (d) During early adolescence period, girls were rated to display better adjustment competence and fewer adjustment problems than boys. Gender moderated the relation between school climate and school adjustment to some extent.

Key words: Adolescents, School Climate, School Adjustment, Longitudinal Study

CLC Number: 

  • B844.2

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