Teacher-rated school leadership and adolescent gambling: a study of schools in Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract Background So-called “effective schools” are characterised by features such as a strong and purposeful school leadership and a favourable school ethos. A prior study showed that a school's degree of teacher-rated ethos was inversely associated with student gambling and risk gambling. Building on these findings, the current study aims to examine the associations that teachers' ratings of the school leadership share with gambling and risk gambling among students in the second grade of upper secondary school in Stockholm (ages 17-18 years). Methods Data were drawn from two separate surveys performed in 2016: the Stockholm School Survey (SSS) and the Stockholm Teacher Survey (STS), with information collected amongst 5,191 students and 1,061 teachers in 46 upper secondary schools. Gambling and risk gambling was measured by student self-reports in the STS. School leadership was assessed by teachers' responses to ten items in the STS, which were added to an index and aggregated to the school level. School-level information from administrative registers was also linked to the data. The statistical method was two-level binary logistic regression analysis. Results Teachers' average ratings of the school leadership were inversely associated with both gambling (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93-0.998, p = 0.039) and risk gambling (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.89-0.99, p = 0.031) among upper secondary students, whilst adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics at the student and the school level. Conclusions The findings lend further support to the assumption that characteristics of effective schools at different levels of the school organisation may reduce students' inclination to engage in health risk behaviours. Key messages Teachers’ ratings of the school leadership were inversely associated with student gambling and risk gambling, whilst adjusting for student- and school-level sociodemographic characteristics. The findings indicate that a strong school leadership, being one key feature of effective schools, may reduce students’ inclination to engage in health risk behaviours.

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Teacher-Rated School Leadership and Adolescent Gambling: A Study of Upper Secondary Schools in Stockholm, Sweden

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18189660 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (18) ◽

pp. 9660

Author(s):

Gabriella Olsson ◽

Bitte Modin ◽

Sara Brolin Låftman

Keyword(s):

Secondary Schools ◽

Effective Schools ◽

School Leadership ◽

Secondary Students ◽

School Level ◽

Adolescent Gambling ◽

Binary Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Upper Secondary ◽

Risk Gambling ◽

Upper Secondary Schools

So-called “effective schools” are characterised by properties such as a strong and purposeful school leadership and a favourable school ethos. In a previous study we showed that a school’s degree of teacher-rated ethos was inversely associated with student gambling and risk gambling. Building on these findings, the current study aims to examine the associations that teachers’ ratings of the school leadership share with gambling and risk gambling among students in the second grade of upper secondary school in Stockholm (age 17–18 years). Data were drawn from the Stockholm School Survey and the Stockholm Teacher Survey with information from 5191 students and 1061 teachers in 46 upper secondary schools. School-level information from administrative registers was also linked to the data. The statistical method was two-level binary logistic regression analysis. Teachers’ average ratings of the school leadership were inversely associated with both gambling (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93–0.998, p = 0.039) and risk gambling (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.89–0.99, p = 0.031) among upper secondary students, whilst adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics at the student and the school level. The findings lend further support to the hypothesis that characteristics of effective schools may reduce students’ inclination to engage in gambling and risk gambling behaviours.

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School ethos and adolescent gambling: a multilevel study of upper secondary schools in Stockholm, Sweden

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-020-8230-y ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sara Brolin Låftman ◽

Bitte Modin ◽

Gabriella Olsson ◽

Kristina Sundqvist ◽

Johan Svensson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Secondary Schools ◽

School Level ◽

Adolescent Gambling ◽

Sociodemographic Characteristics ◽

Multilevel Regression ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

General Terms ◽

Upper Secondary ◽

Risk Gambling ◽

Upper Secondary Schools

Abstract Background Gambling is not uncommon among adolescents, and a non-trivial minority has serious problems with gambling. Therefore, enhanced knowledge about factors that may prevent against problematic gambling among youth is needed. Prior research has shown that a strong school ethos, which can be defined as a set of attitudes and values pervading at a school, is associated with a lower inclination among students to engage in various risk behaviours. Knowledge about the link between school ethos and adolescent gambling is however scarce. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between teacher-rated school ethos and student-reported gambling and risk gambling, when controlling also for sociodemographic characteristics at the student- and the school-level. Methods Data from two separate cross-sectional surveys were combined. The Stockholm School Survey (SSS) was performed among 5123 students (aged 17–18 years) in 46 upper secondary schools, and the Stockholm Teacher Survey (STS) was carried out among 1061 teachers in the same schools. School ethos was measured by an index based on teachers’ ratings of 12 items in the STS. Adolescent gambling and risk gambling were based on a set of single items in the SSS. Sociodemographic characteristics at the student-level were measured by student-reported information from the SSS. Information on sociodemographic characteristics at the school-level was retrieved from administrative registers. The statistical method was multilevel regression analysis. Two-level binary logistic regression models were performed. Results The analyses showed that higher teacher ratings of the school’s ethos were associated with a lower likelihood of gambling and risk gambling among students, when adjusting also for student- and school-level sociodemographic characteristics. Conclusions This study showed that school ethos was inversely associated with students’ inclination to engage in gambling and in risk gambling. In more general terms, the study provides evidence that schools’ values and norms as reflected by the teachers’ ratings of their school’s ethos have the potential to counteract unwanted behaviours among the students.

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The Associations between Health Risk Behaviours and Suicidal Ideation and Attempts in a Nationally Representative Sample of Young Adolescents

The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/070674370705201007 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 52 (10) ◽

pp. 666-674 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Tracie O Afifi ◽

Brian J Cox ◽

Laurence Y Katz

Keyword(s):

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Health Risk ◽

Sexual Intercourse ◽

Suicide Attempts ◽

Female Adolescents ◽

Risk Behaviours ◽

Young Adolescents ◽

Adolescent Boys ◽

Health Risk Behaviours ◽

Nationally Representative

Objective: To examine associations between health risk behaviours and suicidal ideation and attempts in Canadian adolescents aged 12 to 13 years. Young adolescents think about and attempt suicide. However, most existing research on suicide has been conducted on individuals aged 15 years and older. Method: The present study examined a nationally representative Canadian sample of adolescents aged 12 to 13 years ( n = 2090). Health risk behaviours included disruptive (shoplifting, physical fighting, damaging property, fighting with a weapon, carrying a knife, and gambling), sexual (petting below the waist and sexual intercourse), and substance use behaviours (smoking cigarettes, consuming alcohol, marijuana or hash, and glue or solvents). Unadjusted and adjusted (for all significant health risk behaviour and psychiatric symptoms) models were tested. Results: All health risk behaviours were common among male and female adolescents. In unadjusted models, almost all health risk behaviours were associated with suicidal ideation and attempts among adolescent boys. In adjusted models, only damaging property, sexual intercourse, and smoking cigarettes remained statistically associated with suicidal ideation, while smoking cigarettes and using marijuana or hash remained statistically associated with suicide attempts among adolescent boys. All health risk behaviours were statistically associated with suicidal ideation and attempts among female adolescents in unadjusted models. In adjusted models, only carrying a knife remained statistically associated with suicidal ideation, while shoplifting and gambling remained statistically associated with suicide attempts among adolescent girls. Conclusions: Health risk behaviours among young adolescents are associated with suicidal ideation and attempts among young adolescents. Recognizing health risk behaviours among young adolescents may be one means of understanding who among them is at increased risk of suicidality.

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