Does school ethos explain the relationship between value-added education and teenage substance use? A cohort study

详细信息	查看全文 | 推荐本文 |

• 作者：Wolfgang A. Markham^a ; ^{Wolfgang.Markham@warwick.ac.uk} ; Robert Young^b ; ^{r.young@sphsu.mrc.ac.uk} ; Helen Sweeting^b ; ^{h.sweeting@sphsu.mrc.ac.uk} ; Patrick West^b ; ^{p.west@sphsu.mrc.ac.uk} ; Paul Aveyard^c ; ^{p.n.aveyard@bham.ac.uk}
• 关键词：Teenagers ; Substance use ; School ethos ; Value-added education ; Scotland ; Adolescents
• 刊名：Social Science and Medicine
• 出版年：2012
• 期刊代码：242_02779536
• 类别：med
• 出版时间：July, 2012
• 卷：75
• 期：1
• 页码：69-76
• 文件大小：170 K

摘要

Previous studies found lower substance use in schools achieving better examination and truancy results than expected, given their pupil populations (high value-added schools). This study examines whether these findings are replicated in West Scotland and whether school ethos indicators focussing on pupils' perceptions of schooling (environment, involvement, engagement and teacher-pupil relations) mediate the associations. Teenagers from forty-one schools (S2, aged 13, n聽=聽2268; S4, aged 15, n聽=聽2096) previously surveyed in primary school (aged 11, n聽=聽2482) were surveyed in the late 1990s. School value-added scores were derived from standardised residuals of two regression equations separately predicting from pupils' socio-demographic characteristics (1) proportions of pupils passing five Scottish Standard Grade Examinations, and (2) half-day truancy loss. Outcomes were current smoking, monthly drinking, ever illicit drug use. Random effects logistic regression models adjusted for potential pupil-level confounders were used to assess (1) associations between substance use and school-level value-added scores and (2) whether these associations were mediated by pupils' perceptions of schooling or other school-level factors (school roll, religious denomination and mean aggregated school-level ethos scores). Against expectations, value-added education was positively associated with smoking (Odds Ratios [95%confidence intervals] for one standard deviation increase in value-added scores were 1.28 [1.02-1.61] in S2 and 1.13 [1.00-1.27] in S4) and positively but weakly and non-significantly associated with drinking and drug use. Engagement and positive teacher-pupil relations were strongly and negatively associated with all substance use outcomes at both ages. Other school-level factors appeared weakly and largely non-significantly related to substance use. Value-added scores were unrelated to school ethos measures and no ethos measure mediated associations between value-added education and substance use. We conclude that substance use in Scotland is more likely in high value-added schools, among disengaged students and those with poorer student-teacher relationships. Understanding the underpinning mechanisms is a potentially important public health concern.