School Size and Youth Violence: Potential Mediating and Moderating Role of School Connectedness

Interpersonal youth violence is a growing public health concern in the United States. Having a high sense of school connectedness has been found to be a protective factor for youth violence. A high school course that aims to enhance school connectedness was developed and evaluated to investigate the students’ sense of school connectedness and its association with violent attitudes and behaviors. Survey data from 598 students from a predominately Asian and Pacific Islander student body were analyzed to assess their level of school connectedness and violent attitudes and behaviors. Analysis of Variance was used to identify differences in the school connectedness and violence scores related to students’ demographic characteristics. The role of school connectedness in the relationship between student demographic characteristics and violent attitudes and behaviors was examined with structural equation modeling. Overall, students reported a moderately high sense of school connectedness. School connectedness was found to be negatively associated with violent attitudes but not self-reported violent behaviors. Multiple-group analyses were conducted across the ethnic groups, which found differential associations between the school connectedness and violence variables. These results highlight the value of disaggregating the Asian and Pacific Islander category and the need for future research to further contextualize and clarify the relationship between school connectedness and interpersonal youth violence. This will help inform the development of evidence-based strategies and prevention programming that focus on school connectedness to address disparities in interpersonal youth violence outcomes.

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School Connectedness and Bystander Intervention: The Moderating Role of Perceived Exclusion and Privilege Among African American Students

School Psychology Review ◽

10.1080/2372966x.2020.1846459 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Jerica Knox ◽

Stephen Gibson ◽

Seçil Gönültaş ◽

Kelly Lynn Mulvey

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

African American Students ◽

School Connectedness ◽

Bystander Intervention ◽

American Students ◽

Moderating Role

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Testing the Strain Theory of Suicide – The Moderating Role of Social Support

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000604 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 82-88 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bob Lew ◽

Ksenia Chistopolskaya ◽

Yanzheng Liu ◽

Mansor Abu Talib ◽

Olga Mitina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Suicidal Behavior ◽

Online Survey ◽

Perceived Social Support ◽

Strain Theory ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Psychological Strains ◽

Moderating Role

Abstract. Background: According to the strain theory of suicide, strains, resulting from conﬂicting and competing pressures in an individual's life, are hypothesized to precede suicide. But social support is an important factor that can mitigate strains and lessen their input in suicidal behavior. Aims: This study was designed to assess the moderating role of social support in the relation between strain and suicidality. Methods: A sample of 1,051 employees were recruited in Beijing, the capital of China, through an online survey. Moderation analysis was performed using SPSS PROCESS Macro. Social support was measured with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and strains were assessed with the Psychological Strains Scale. Results: Psychological strains are a good predictor of suicidality, and social support, a basic need for each human being, moderates and decreases the effects of psychological strains on suicidality. Limitations: The cross-sectional survey limited the extent to which conclusions about causal relationships can be drawn. Furthermore, the results may not be generalized to the whole of China because of its diversity. Conclusion: Social support has a tendency to mitigate the effects of psychological strains on suicidality.

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