RHP&EO is the electronic journal of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education

Social School Climate, Peer Harassment, Emotional Problems And Musculoskeletal Complaints Among Norwegian 8th Grade Students

Edvin Bru, Marit Boyesen, Elaine Munthe and Erling Roland

Centre for Behavioural Research, Stavanger College, P.B. 1067 Hillevag, 4004 Stavanger, Norway

Social school climate and psychosocial problems like peer harassment, emotional problems and musculoskeletal complaints were' assessed in a sample of 1071 Norwegian 8th grade students. Moreover, associations between perceived social school climate and reported psychosocial problems were explored for the whole sample as well as four sub-samples defined on the basis of gender and reported learning difficulties. All variables were assessed' by use of self-report. The results of the present study show that psychosocial problems appear to such a degree among Norwegian adolescents that it is necessary to search for more effective prevention programs; 10% report to harass peers on a weekly basis, 12% report to struggle with emotional problems, whereas 10% report more severe musculoskeletal complaints. Moreover, results showed significant associations between perceived social school climate and reported psychosocial problems, and thereby support the assumptions that the social school climate can affect the prevalence of psychosocial problems. This seems especially to be the case for boys with perceived learning difficulties. According to results of the present study, efforts to decrease the danger of students being harassed at school can be an essential means of preventing emotional and musculoskeletal problems among students. Furthermore, results suggest that peer harassment could be reduced by the improvement of teacher functioning. Based on student assessments of the various aspects of teacher functioning, there seems to be room for improvement of teachers 'ability to care for students and their ability to deal with harassment among students. Results from correlation analyses also indicate that improvement in teachers' ability to instruct may have a positive effect. However, it is necessary to emphasize that the present study is a correlation study and it may therefore not be concluded that poor social school climate causes psychosocial problems. Results could alternatively indicate that students with psychosocial problems have characteristics that affect the social school climate in a negative way or that they perceive the social school climate more negatively. Most likely, we are dealing with reciprocal effects. Experimental or quasi-experimental intervention studies are needed to learn more about how the social school climate can be altered to reduce the prevalence of psychosocial problems and to explore the causal relations between social school climate and psychosocial problems.

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