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Classroom climate and the mental health of primary school children

HEIDI SOMERSALO, TYTTI SOLANTAUS, FREDRIK ALMQVIST

Somersalo H, Solantaus T, Almqvist F. Classroom climate and the mental health of primary school children. Nord J Psychiatry 2002;56:28 5 290. Oslo. ISSN 0803-9488. This study was carried out to examine associations between classroom climate and pupils mental health in primary school, and whether pupils who had emotional and behavioural problems in the second grade are more vulnerable to the effects of a poor classroom climate 4 years later. The study was carried out by means of questionnaires to teachers. The students (n 861) were surveyed in the second (aged 8 years, Time 1) and sixth grade (aged 12 years, Time 2). The Rutter Teacher Questionnaire (RB2) at Time 1 and the Teacher Report Form (TRF) at Time 2 were used to measure internalizing, externalizing and total problem scores. Classroom climate was measured using a composite variable at Time 2. The results show associations between poor sixth-grade classroom climate and an increase in emotional and behavioural problems in both boys and girls. In addition, the girls who were overall poorly adjusted, particularly those who had externalizing problems in the second grade, were especially vulnerable to a poor classroom climate in the sixth grade. Classroom climate, Externalizing , Internalizing , Total problems. Heidi Somersalo, M.D., Department of Clinical Medicine, Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Helsinki University, P.O. Box 280, FI-00029 HUCH, Finland. E-mail: heidi.somersalo@hus. ; Accepted: 17 June 2001.

upils working together in classrooms make up social systems. The work atmosphere and the social relations in these classes constitute the classroom climate (1). It is in uenced by pupils, teachers and school management (2). In a class characterized by a good climate, teachers emphasize co-operation (3) and pupils work well together. A positive relationship between the climate and the childrens adjustment, including self-esteem, interest and motivation, behaviour and school achievement, has been found in a considerable number of studies (4 11). However, information on the relationship between the classroom climate and childrens psychopatholog y is more limited. The aim of the present study is to examine how classroom climate relates to childrens emotional and behavioural problems in the sixth grade (aged 12 years), and to see if children who had such problems in the second grade (aged 8 years) are more vulnerable to the effects of a poor classroom climate in the sixth grade than others. Most studies on classroom climate and childrens emotional and behavioural problems focus on externalizing symptoms. Klicpera et al. (12) compared eighthgrade classes and found that poor classroom climate was related to the frequency of aggressive behaviours. This was a cross-sectional study, and the effects could be bi-directional. A number of intervention trials suggest, however, that classroom climate could have a causal role in childrens problems (13 15). These stud 2002 Taylor & Francis

ies showed that individuals aggressive behaviours could be decreased by measures taken on the classroom level. This intervention effect was demonstrated in different age groups, in lower school (14, 15) and in early and mid adolescence (13). In the longitudinal Kellam studies (14, 15), a poor classroom climate in the rst grade was associated with boys but not girls later behavioural problems, and the intervention effect was likewise only on boys symptoms. These studies suggest a stronger relationship of classroom climate with boys than with girls externalizing problems. Little is known about the association between classroom climate and internalizing problems. Russell & Russell (16) found signi cant correlations between selfreported depression of third- through sixth-graders and their involvement in academic and social activities and relationships in the classroom. School climate and classroom climate in uence each other, in other words, a well-functioning school in uences its classrooms positively and vice versa (2, 17). The classroom climate seems to contribute more to pupils behaviour than the school climate (18) and the two are usually dealt with as separate concepts in the eld of school research. However, ndings concerning the school climate could help us to understand the processes going on in classrooms. A favourable school climate has been positively associated with academic achievements, behaviour, motivation and self-esteem

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(19 23). Again, less is known about the association between the school climate and childrens emotional and behavioural problems. However, some studies report an association of a poor school climate with pupils externalizing (24, 25) and internalizing problems (24, 26). In the Kuperminc et al. study (24), the association was with internalizing boys but not with girls, suggesting again a stronger relationship of boys problems with classroom climate. The aim of the present study was to extend our knowledge of relationships between classroom climate and pupils emotional and behavioural problems. The following issues were addressed: 1. Does a poor classroom climate in the sixth grade associate with the emotional and behavioural problems of the pupils? 2. Are pupils who had emotional and behavioural problems in the second grade more vulnerable to the effects of a poor classroom climate later on in the sixth grade?

Material
The study sample comes from a population-base d study on childrens mental health (27). The original sample included 1320 children born in 1981 from Southern Finland, and information was gathered in the second grade from their 129 teachers (Time 1). In the sixth grade, information was collected from 145 teachers (Time 2). If a child moved to another school during the follow-up period, he:she was traced, which explains the increase in the number of teachers at Time 2. The study was carried out by means of questionnaires distributed in schools. Teacher data on 861 (65%) subjects, 423 girls and 438 boys, were available at both points of time. Eighteen teachers (12.4%) had taught their classes at both points of time. There was considerable attrition, mostly due to the data-collection procedure. If a teacher decided not to participate in the study, the data for all the children in the class were lost. The attrition was not dependent on the childs gender, internalizing or externalizing symptoms at Time 1, or on social class. However, it was dependent on academic achievement (chi-squared 9.7, P 0.008). The pupils who dropped out during the follow-up period were lower achievers at Time 1.

scale (28, 29). The good reliability and validity of the RB2 has been established (28, 30). At Time 2, the teachers lled out the symptom and problem part of Achenbachs (31) Teacher Report Form (TRF). The TRF consists of 118 speci c problem items and two open-ended items, all rated on a threepoint scale (0 not true, 1 somewhat or sometimes true, 2 very true or often true). The TRF externalizing scale comprises 34 items belonging to the narrow band scales aggressive behaviour and delinquent behaviour, while the internalizing scale comprises 35 items belonging to the narrow band scales withdrawn, somatic complaints and anxious:depressed. The good reliability and validity of the TRF has also been established (31). Classroom climate was evaluated by the teachers at Time 2 and it was measured as a composite variable, which includes four variables all measured on ve-point scales: 1) class spirit (extremely good to extremely poor); 2) successfulness of joint activities in the classroom (extremely good to extremely poor); 3) bullying in the classroom (very seldom to very often) and 4) orderly working conditions during lessons (always to never). The range for the composite variable was 4 14, mean 9 s 8.12 9 2.27. The Cronbach alpha was 0.73.

Statistical analysis

Methods
The teachers lled out the Rutter B2 questionnaire (RB2; (28)) at Time 1. It consists of 26 statements on childrens emotional and behavioural problems rated on a three-point scale (0 does not apply, 1 applies somewhat, 2 certainly applies). The RB2 total score is a sum of all these statements. Six statements (items 4, 5, 15, 19, 20, 26) make up the RB2 externalizing scale, and four statements (items 7, 10, 17, 23) the internalizing

Multiple linear regression analyses were carried out to predict the Time 2 problem scores with the Time 1 problem score, classroom climate and the interaction between these two. Because boys and girls are known to differ in symptom presentation (32 34) with boys being more likely than girls to have externalizing problems, and because gender differences have been suggested in the relationship between classroom:school climate and childrens emotional and behavioural problems (14, 15, 24), the analyses were carried out separately for boys and girls. To show the contribution of each variable to the models, the independent variables were entered in steps, rst the Time 1 problem score, then Time 2 classroom climate and last the interaction between these two. In the regression analyses with interaction terms the independent variables were centralized, i.e. the mean was subtracted (35). Graphic results were produced using the SAS programme. The moderating effect of the classroom climate on the association between girls Time 1 and Time 2 problem scores is demonstrated in Figs 1 and 2 at levels of good ( 1s) and poor ( 1s) classroom climate.

Results
The correlations between all variables can be obtained from the authors. Regression analyses predicting sixth-grade problems of boys and girls are presented in Table 1. There were signi cant main effects of both the Time 1 total probNORD J PSYCHIATRY VOL 56 NO 4 2002

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lem score and classroom climate on Time 2 total problems for both genders. The interaction of the girls problems in the second grade and the classroom climate in the sixth grade was signi cant, as can be seen in Fig. 1. Girls with a higher total score in the second grade were especially vulnerable to the effects of a poor classroom climate in the sixth grade. There was no interaction effect for the boys. Regression analyses predicting sixth-grade externalizing and internalizing problems among the boys and girls were then carried out. There were signi cant main effects for both Time 1 externalizing:internalizing problems and Time 2 classroom climate on Time 2 externalizing:internalizing problems for both genders (Tables 2 and 3). The interaction effect between Time 1 externalizing problems and Time 2 classroom climate was signi cant for the girls, as can be seen in Fig. 2. Girls with externalizing problems in the second grade were especially vulnerable to the adverse effects of a poor classroom climate in the sixth grade. The interaction effect between classroom climate and Time 1 internalizing problems did not come out as signi cant for the boys or for the girls. Unfortunately we had no data on the second-grade classroom climate, which therefore could not be studied. Because childrens problems contribute to the class-

Fig. 2. The effect of the Time 1 externalizing score on the Time 2 externalizing score at two levels of classroom climate among the girls (good climate, 1s, ; poor climate, 1s, ).

room climate, the direction of causality at Time 2 could not be de ned. We therefore wanted to see if childrens problems in the second grade affected the classroom climate in the sixth grade. The corresponding regression analyses were carried out for the boys and girls. There was no effect for the girls, but for the boys, Time 1 externalizing and total problem scores predicted a poor classroom climate at Time 2 (standardized estimate 0.189, P 0.0002 and standardized estimate 0.207, P 0.0001, respectively).

Discussion

Fig. 1. The effect of the Time 1 total problem score on the Time 2 total problem score at two levels of classroom climate among the girls (good climate, 1s, ; poor climate, 1s, ).
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The aim of this study was to increase our knowledge of the relationship between classroom climate and childrens emotional and behavioural problems. Earlier studies have mainly focused on the effects of classroom climate on cognitive aspects of child development, and there is fairly little information on its associations with mental health. We examined its associations with students overall, externalizing and internalizing problems in the sixth grade, and investigated whether children with emotional and behavioural problems in the second grade were especially vulnerable to the negative effects of a poor classroom climate in grade six. Before we start discussing the results in detail, some methodological points need to be considered.

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Different scales were used to measure childrens emotional and behavioural problems at Time 1 and Time 2, which might have brought about a measurement problem. However, both the RB2 and the Achenbach TRF have good psychometric properties and are documented to have good discriminant validity (28, 30, 31). We have found no studies comparing the RB2 and the TRF, but the corresponding parental scales had a high overall correlation of 0.79 (36). Therefore it is assumed that the teacher scales also converge. At Time 2, the teachers rated the children as well as the classroom climate. This is likely to create informant bias and increase the strength of the association be-

tween individuals emotional and behavioural problems and the climate. It would be important in further studies to use independent ratings. The attrition from Time 1 to Time 2 was considerable. The fact that children who achieved poorly at Time 1 tended to drop out indicates that teachers with problematic students might not have had enough motivation to ll in the fairly long Achenbach questionnaires. Consequently, the classroom climate ratings are likely to be too optimistic rather than too pessimistic. This might introduce a bias against our hypothesis, which is in contrast to the informant bias discussed above.

Table 1. The effect of the second-grade total problem score and sixth-grade classroom climate on the sixth-grade total problem score according to the regression model.
Girls Standard coef cient (b) 0.28 0.23 0.13 Standard coef cient ( b) 0.55 0.24 0.03 Boys

Regression coef cient Total problem score Time 1 Classroom climate Time 2 Totalclimate 1.36 1.55 0.25

SE 0.05 0.05 0.05

R2 change

Regression coef cient 2.45

SE 0.04 0.04 0.05

P 0.0001 0.0001 0.5582

R2 change

0.0001 0.08 0.0001 0.12 0.0119 0.13 0.04 0.01

0.30 0.36 0.36 0.06 0.00

2.78 0.04

Table 2. The effect of the second-grade externalizing score and sixth-grade classroom climate on the sixth-grade externalizing score according to the regression model.
Girls Standard coef cient (b ) 0.28 0.19 0.20 Standard coef cient (b) 0.54 0.21 0.04 Boys

Regression coef cient Externalizing score Time 1 Classroom climate Time 2 Externalclimate 2.25 0.54 0.54

SE 0.05 0.05 0.06

P 0.0001 0.0001 0.0020

R2 change

Regression coef cient 3.01

SE 0.04 0.04 0.05

P 0.0001 0.0001 0.3605

R2 change

0.08 0.10 0.12 0.02 0.02

0.29 0.33 0.33 0.04 0.00

1.14 0.09

Table 3. The effect of the second-grade internalizing score and sixth-grade classroom climate on the sixth-grade internalizing score according to the regression model.
Girls Standard coef cient (b) 0.19 0.20 0.03 Standard coef cient (b) 0.29 0.25 0.04 Boys

Regression coef cient Internalizing score Time 1 Classroom climate Time 2 Internalclimate 1.09 0.52 0.06

SE 0.05 0.05 0.05

P 0.0001 0.0001 0.5713

R2 0.04 0.08 0.08

R2 change

Regression coef cient 1.42

SE 0.05 0.05 0.05

P 0.0001 0.0001 0.4102

R2 0.08 0.15 0.15

R2 change

0.04 0.00

0.70 0.07

0.07 0.00

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The scale for scoring the classroom climate was developed by Solantaus for this study and it has not been validated. Nevertheless, variables constituting the composite variable used for classroom climate in the present study (class spirit, successfulness of joint activities in the classroom, bullying in the classroom, and orderly working conditions during lessons) correspond to the core elements of My Class Inventory (1, 37), which is an instrument used for assessing classroom climate in primary school. Our study con rms earlier ndings (12 16) that there is an association between classroom climate and the pupils emotional and behavioural problems. When emotional and behavioural problems were predicted by earlier problems and the present classroom climate, the model explained 8 13% of the variance for girls and 15 36% for boys. The main effect of classroom climate accounted for 2 7% and the interaction effect in girls an additional 1 2% of the variance of present problems. The gures show that earlier problems are strong predictors for later ones, which has come up in several other studies (38 40). In our study this was especially true as regards boys externalizing and total problems, while classroom climate explained about the same amount of variance in boys and girls internalizing problems as their earlier problems did. These gures are, however, only estimates, because we could not control the effect of earlier classroom climate and because classroom climate and childrens problems in uence each other. It is easy to understand how externalizing behaviour contributes to a poor classroom climate, and also how a poor climate might perpetuate externalizing behaviour by allowing a subculture of poorly behaving students. The boys externalizing behaviour in the second grade affected the classroom climate in the sixth grade, while their internalizing symptoms and the girls problems did not. This means that boys earlier behaviour problems predicted both the climate in their classrooms and their own problems. The ndings suggest that boys problem behaviour affects their environment more strongly than girls and one wonders if this is true also at home and in other contexts for boys. There was also an association between pupils internalizing symptoms and poor classroom climate. This has earlier been reported by Russell & Russell (16), and concerning school climate by, e.g., Kuperminc et al. (24). A poor classroom climate may not support constructive friendships, which might be problematic for internalizing pupils. It is harder to understand how pupils with internalizing problems could contribute to a poor classroom climate. Their lack of energy, negative mood and tendency to withdraw might be re ected in the overall atmosphere and make the class less cohesive. However, their in uence on the climate is likely to be subtler than that of externalizing students. Indeed, internalizing symptoms of either the boys or girls in the
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second grade did not contribute to the climate in the sixth grade. This means that the causality might run from poor classroom climate to internalizing problems more strongly than vice versa. The girls symptoms were especially pronounced if they had had emotional and behavioural problems in the second grade and the present classroom climate was poor. This nding was clari ed in the separate analyses on internalizing and externalizing problems: it applied to externalizing behaviour. Earlier externalizing problems seem to leave girls more prone to act out at a later age, if the classroom is restless and less constructive in early adolescence. Early adolescence is a time for peer pressure for conformity to set in (41). If classroom climate is poor, it might mean allying with poorly behaving students. The same effect should then be seen in boys a year or two later, because boys lag behind in pubertal development. We could also be dealing with a cultural change. Recent Finnish studies have shown that smoking and drinking, i.e. externalizing behaviours, have increased especially among girls (42, 43). Girls with earlier behavioural problems might readily af liate with oppositional behaviours in the classroom, if there is a pressure among modern girls to act out in adolescence. However, we have no good explanations for this speci c nding, and more studies are needed. In conclusion, our study con rms earlier ndings that classroom climate and childrens emotional and behavioural problems are in a dynamic relationship. In addition to taking care of individuals well-being in schools, school authorities should pay attention to atmospheric aspects. A good classroom climate is important not only for the sake of convenience and better learning, but it also has implications for the pupils mental health.

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