Citation

Lau C, Wong M, Dudovitz R. J. Adolesc. Health 2018; 62(2): 136-142.

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California. Electronic address: rdudovitz@mednet.ucla.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.08.011

PMID

29102555

Abstract

PURPOSE: Parenting style is strongly associated with adolescent health. However, little is known about how school disciplinary style relates to health. We categorized adolescents' perceptions of their schools as authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, or neglectful, and test whether perceived school disciplinary style is associated with health.

METHODS: We analyze data from the RISE Up study (Reducing Health Inequities Through Social and Educational Change Follow-up), comprised of baseline (eighth grade) and 2-year follow-up surveys (10th grade) from 1,159 low-income minority adolescents in Los Angeles attending 157 schools. At 10th grade, students' ratings of school support and structure were used to categorize perceived school disciplinary style as authoritative (highest tertile for support and structure), authoritarian (low support, high structure), permissive (high support, low structure), neglectful (low on both dimensions), and average (middle tertile on either dimension). Mixed effects logistic regressions controlling for sociodemographic factors, parenting style, grades, and baseline health tested whether school disciplinary style was associated with substance use, violence, bullying, and depression symptoms.

RESULTS: Risky behaviors varied by school disciplinary style. After adjusting for covariates, compared with an average school disciplinary style, a neglectful school was associated with higher odds of substance use (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.3, p < .001) and bullying (AOR 1.5, p = .02), a permissive school was associated with higher odds of depression symptoms (AOR 2.1, p = .04), and an authoritative school was associated with lower odds of substance use (AOR.6, p = .049), violence (AOR.6, p = .03), and bullying (AOR.5, p = .001).

CONCLUSIONS: Structured and supportive school environments may impact the health of vulnerable adolescents.

Copyright © 2017 The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescent health; Authoritative; Bullying; Depression; Disciplinary style; Parenting style; School climate; School health; Substance use; Violent delinquency