ECP27_1 complete:ECP27

Relational matters: A review of the

impact of school experience on mental

health in early adolescence

Colleen McLaughlin & Barbie Clarke

The review of this area posited the notion of ‘the supportive school’ as important and one key element, the

notion of school connectedness. Within that the role of relationships is identified as significant. This paper

explores the part played by relationships in schools. The paper draws on a review of 133 papers published

mainly in the last 15 years. Relationships between teachers and pupils and pupils’ peer relationships are

identified as the key ones. The main ways in which school-based relationships impact upon mental health are

explored. First, in terms of the relationship to academic outcomes; second, the relationship between social

support, feelings of emotional well-being or distress, and teacher-pupil relationships; and finally the

relationship between school connectedness and mental health outcomes. The authors argue for greater

attention to be paid to the interconnections between the relationships with young people and their emotional

and academic well-being. The paper concludes with the implications for schools and teachers of these findings

and an argument for an acknowledgement of the importance of the social goals of education.

Schooling does matter greatly. Moreover, the bene-

fits can be surprisingly long lasting … Schools are

about social experiences as well as scholastic

learning. (Rutter, 1991)

T IS NEARLY three decades since research

showed the power of schools to make a

difference to educational outcomes (Rutter

et al., 1979) and two decades since the scope

widened to examine matters of psychosocial

development (Rutter, 1991). Recently the

Nuffield Foundation

has commissioned a re-

examination of the research on these

elements and this paper reports an element of

this, the role of relationships at school in

mental health. We explore the empirical

research, reported in the last 10 to 15 years, on

the influence of school experience, particu-

larly relationships, on young people’s mental

health and then look at the implications for

practice and policy.

By mental health we mean a young

person’s ability to: develop psychologically,

emotionally, intellectually and spiritually;

have a sense of personal well-being; sustain

satisfying personal relationships; develop a

sense of right and wrong; and resolve prob-

lems as well as learning from them (Mental

Health Foundation, 1999). The period that

the review focuses upon is early adolescence,

i.e. between 10 and 14. This is an interesting

time period since it encompasses the transi-

tion from pre-teenage years to teenage years

and from primary to secondary school. It is a

time when young people are developmen-

tally concerned with increasing their

autonomy and with shifting the balance in

their relationships with peers and adults.

Roeser et al. (2000) describe this as a highly

potent period. ‘Nowhere in the life span

other than in infancy is the interplay of indi-

vidual and collective factors in the composi-

tion of human life more pronounced than in

the early adolescent years.’ (p.443)

There is an underlying assumption in

many policy initiatives that schools do play a

major part in young people’s well-being. The

Government’s recent Every Child Matters legis-

lation (Department for Education and Skills,

2003) places a duty of well-being on schools

Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1 91

For further information go to www.nuffieldfoundation.org the Changing Adolescence programme.

Colleen McLaughlin & Barbie Clarke

92 Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1

and this responsibility for taking care of

young people’s mental health is embedded

within many policies (Department of Health,

2004). Programmes such as the ‘Social and

Emotional Aspects of Learning in Schools’

(SEAL) (Department for Education and

Skills, 2005) presume that teachers and

schools have a part to play in developing

young people’s well-being. In 2005 the Good

Childhood Inquiry surveyed around 8000 14-

to 16-year-olds from across the UK (Pople,

2009, pp.17–18). The survey reports that

children often ‘spontaneously mentioned’

school and education when asked about ‘the

ingredients of a good life’. What young

people valued highly was time with friends

from whom they derived ‘intimacy, support

and pleasure’. The absence of such friend-

ships was felt keenly by a minority. Equally

valued was having ‘good teachers’ who were

‘kind and supportive’ ‘passionate about their

subjects’ and who made lessons ‘interesting

and fun’. They were also concerned about

bullying and the ‘disruptive behaviour of

other pupils’. Exams and schoolwork were

also a source of stress. So young people

perceived school as playing a role in well-

being. The factors mentioned by the pupils

convey a strong sense of the school as a social

institution where the social experiences

referred to by Rutter in the earlier quotation

emerge as important.

We wanted to explore more deeply the

evidence on the relationship between school

experience and mental health outcomes. We

argue that schools should be involved in

developing emotional well-being and that,

as Resnick (2005) has written, this involves

‘the intentional, deliberative process of

providing support, relationships, experience

and opportunities that promote positive

outcomes for young people.’

We identified several interlocking areas

of activity and experience in schools which

may be particularly important in influencing

young people’s well-being and the major one

was the notion of ‘school connectedness’.

This concept is relatively recent as a term,

although its components are of much longer

standing. As the US National Research

Council (2003) put it: ‘If students are to

invest themselves in the forms of mastery

required by schools, they must perceive the

general enterprise of schooling as legitimate,

deserving of their committed effort and

honouring them as respected members.’

‘School connectedness’ provides a summary

way of describing a nexus of activities and

experiences including relationships between

peers and with teachers, levels of pupil satis-

faction with what they are experiencing, feel-

ings of membership of the ‘learning

community’ and aspects of participation and

student voice. Many of these areas have been

researched in some detail over the years and

ideas about their nature and salience are

relatively well-developed. This article will

focus on the primacy of relationships in this

area. We explore the ways in which relation-

ships are important, how they are important

and the implications for policy and practice.

The review strategy

We addressed this question of the relationship

between school experience and mental

health by entering the following terms into

the major bibliographic search engines (both

inside and outside education), paying partic-

ular attention to those aspects of social and

emotional development and behaviour which

previous reviews have linked to schooling.

One-hundred-and-thirty-three papers were

reviewed. The majority of these papers were

from the US, with some from the UK and

Australia.

Search terms used:

● Adolescent Mental Health;

● Friendship in Adolescence;

● Adolescent mental health in schools;

● School Connectedness;

● Pupil-teacher relationship;

● Bullying, Adolescence;

● School Preventative Programmes

Adolescence;

● School Exclusion;

● School, emotion, adolescence;

● School, emotion, attachment.

Relational matters

Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1 93

We paid particular attention to studies in

middle schools or those which conducted

research on young people within the 10 to 14

age range. We drew on papers in psychology,

health, medicine, education and criminology.

As stated earlier, the power of relation-

ships emerged as a major factor in early

adolescents’ mental health and so the first

and major part of the paper explores the

research on relationships between teachers

and pupils, pupils’ peer relationships and

mental health. The authors also examine the

theoretical frameworks within which this

research has been framed and in particular

notions of development, attachment and

connectedness or engagement. The paper

concludes with a discussion on the implica-

tions of this emphasis on relationships and

their role in mental health.

Background

Early research in the areas of resilience,

school effectiveness and ‘at risk’ or vulner-

able groups of young people identified the

importance of teacher-pupil and pupil-pupil

relationships. This research focused on the

relationship between the adults in children’s

social worlds and the influences of and inter-

actions with family, peers and other social

organisations. Schools were identified as

important sites in relation to mental health,

and the academic as well as the psychosocial

aspects of school were seen as very important

to adolescents’ healthy development (Rutter,

1991; Howard et al., 1999). Significant

factors in protecting young people psycho-

socially and helping to promote their well-

being include the ability of children to

develop coping strategies, for example, self-

efficacy, the ability to self-reflect, self-

reliance, maintaining a positive outlook and

problem solving (Vostanis, 2007). Also

important is children’s positive experiences

of, and engagement in, secure relationships,

educational attainment, and friendships. So

the significance of schools as places which

have an impact on mental health had been

established. The interconnections between

these elements in a school setting are also

pertinent and research has shown that they

are highly connected. This will be explored

further later in this paper.

The importance of teacher-pupil

relationships

Over the last decade reviews of research have

acknowledged the central role and impor-

tance of teacher-pupil relationships to

emotional well-being in schools (Durlak &

Wells, 1997; Weare & Gray, 2003). However,

despite the acknowledgments of their impor-

tance there has been a lack of detailed explo-

ration and a neglect of this as a focus for

policy or practice development.

The research undertaken is largely from

the US, with some European and some

Australian research. There is a need to be

cautious about directly or simplistically trans-

ferring findings from the US. Juvonen and

colleagues (2004) report that ‘the interna-

tional comparisons … show that US middle-

school-age pupils have negative perceptions

of their learning conditions. Compared with

their peers in other countries they reported

the highest levels of emotional and physical

problems, viewed the climate of their schools

most negatively and considered the peer

culture in school to be unkind and unsup-

portive.’ On the other hand US pupils

reported more favourably on levels of teacher

support, parental involvement and ‘academic

pressure’. However, the recent UNICEF study

of child well-being in rich countries

(UNICEF, 2007) show great similarities in the

rankings of the UK and the US, suggesting

more similarities between these two countries

than between the UK and European coun-

tries. The research studies are often large

correlational studies which focus on the indi-

vidual characteristics and conditions of

young people in school settings. Few studies

can be said to be deeply rooted in educa-

tional settings or interrogating the interrela-

tionship in detail, a big gap in the research.

Why do relationships matter?

In this section we outline the importance of

the concept of school connectedness for

Colleen McLaughlin & Barbie Clarke

94 Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1

young people’s well-being and the role that

relationships play within that.

School connectedness and engagement

The ability of a child to connect to school

during adolescence has been shown to be a

key protective factor and one that lowers the

likelihood of health-risk behaviour, while

also enhancing positive educational

outcomes (Resnick et al., 1993; Resnick,

2000; Glover et al., 1998; Blum & Libbey,

2004; Libbey, 2004). Several factors relate to

young adolescents’ sense of motivation and

achievement at school, including parental

support (Bowen & Bowen, 1998; Rosenfeld

et al., 2000) and peer support (Rosenfeld et

al., 2000). Early adolescents’ engagement

with school is instrumental to their social

and cognitive development, leading to sense

of achievement and high self-esteem, but it is

also fundamental to their well-being (Finn,

1993; Newmann, 1992; Marks, 2000). Young

adolescents who are disengaged from

school, and have poor relationships with

peers and teachers, are likely to have a

higher risk of displaying anxiety or depres-

sive symptoms, are more likely to use drugs

and engage in socially disruptive behaviours,

and are less likely to complete secondary

schools (Resnick et al., 1997; Bond et al.,

2004; Barclay & Doll, 2001; Doll & Hess,

2001; Marcus & Sanders-Reio, 2001; Cata-

lano et al., 1996). What may be occurring

here is that the exclusion or inclusion of

young people in school affects their

networks of relationships as well as their

opportunities to engage in anti social or risky

behaviours. There may also be a sense of

rejection and this may have to be engaged

with in terms of identity, as studies by Matza

(1999) suggest. It may also be the beginning

of identification with a marginal identity.

To have a sense of connectedness with

school it is suggested that a child should feel

that they belong in some way to the school

(Finn 1993, 1997). Children who feel

connected to school, and feel cared for by

people at school, report a higher degree of

well-being (Resnick et al., 1997; Eccles et al.,

1997; Steinberg, 1996; McNeely et al., 2002).

Smith (2006) in a study of youth transitions

and crime in Edinburgh emphasises the role

of teacher-pupil relationships in this attach-

ment to school.

‘Attachment to school is related to young

people’s behaviour more widely in school

and more widely to delinquent and

criminal conduct. The most important

dimension is attachment to teachers, but

the belief that school success will bring

later reward is also important.’ (p.4)

Here we see the strong connections in the

web of connectedness. Attachment to adults

who care is at the centre of engagement with

school and through the school with society.

It suggests an identification with social

organisations through attachment.

This emphasis on the power of positive

teacher-pupil relationships is mirrored in

studies on feelings of self-esteem and depres-

sions (Reddy et al., 2003) as is the connection

between social inclusion and well-being.

Whilst the majority of children have a positive

relationship with their school, a significant

minority do not report a sense of connected-

ness or engagement (Murray & Greenberg,

2000), although this is a complex picture and

trends are difficult to ascertain. The Ofsted

TellUs sur veys do not ask directly about

engagement, but do ask about whether pupils

enjoy school. In 2007, 58 per cent replied that

they did either ‘always’ or ‘most of the time,’

and in 2008, 50 per cent were in these cate-

gories. These findings suggest that there is a

relationship between young people’s social

connections to school, their operation in their

social worlds and their academic outcomes.

Academic outcomes

Relationships matter because they affect

young people’s connection to school, with

ensuing consequences, but also because they

affect academic outcomes. Research also

emphasises the nexus of connections

between matters of well-being, academic

achievement and pupils’ motivation and

engagement. Emotional well-being is

enhanced by academic achievement and

Relational matters

Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1 95

good teaching, as academic achievement is

dependent on ‘an ability to meet social as

well as academic challenges’ (Wentzel, 1998,

p.202). Earlier research, particularly that by

Rutter (1991) and Eccles and Midgley

(1989), showed the impact of school success

on later social development and these find-

ings are reinforced in more recent research.

Roeser and colleagues (2000) studied

mental health interventions and concluded

that: ‘Perhaps the best mental health inter-

vention teachers can implement in middle

schools is good teaching’ (p.458). Since

there is a complex dynamic between social,

emotional and academic development in

school, they argue for the power of good

teaching integrating all elements. Their

explanation is that feeling academically

competent and valuing school are ‘two

intrapsychic resources that may help youth

with poor mental health overcome other life

adversities that often threaten the attain-

ment of a good education’ (ibid, p.457).

Interest in school can be a powerful motiva-

tional construct; it is related to persistence

(Csikszentmihalyi & Nakamura, 1998; Deci,

1992), and to achievement (Wentzel, 1998).

Many of the factors that are related to

success in school are also factors that play a

part in shaping emotional well-being, i.e.

persistence at tasks, having positive goals,

feeling included in a social group and in a

worthwhile enterprise, feelings of compe-

tence and safety, developing problem solving

capacities, having a sense of efficacy. When

exploring the key factors in motivation and

success at school, relationships with teachers

emerge as central and play a particular part

in emotional well-being (Wentzel, 1998;

Roeser et al., 2000; Weare & Gray, 2003).

Wentzel argues that social support is a key

variable for all pupils, not just vulnerable or

minority groups. She also warns against

generalising to all age groups as she feels

that middle school pupils are a particular

group. Other recent UK research (Mayall,

2007) has emphasised young adolescents’

desire for positive pupil-teacher relation-

ships. As Rudduck and Flutter (2004) have

argued, what was striking about teachers

identified by young people as ‘good’ was that

‘the qualities that mattered to pupils tended

to be as much about how they were treated as

how they were taught.’ So academic

outcomes, social support, and relationships

are deeply interconnected. Research also

connects them to mental health outcomes.

Emotional well-being and distress

An area that has been researched more in

the last decade is the relationship between

social support, feelings of emotional well-

being or distress, and teacher-pupil relation-

ships. Roeser et al. (2000) in concluding a

meta review wrote:

The theoretical argument is straight-

forward: to the extent that adolescents

perceive teacher and school staff as

providing them with opportunities to

develop their academic and social

competencies, to exercise autonomous

control over aspects of their learning and

to feel care and supported during

learning, adolescents’ perceptions of

their academic competence, their

valuing of school and their emotional

well-being should all be enhanced.

(p.458)

Perceived levels of teacher support appear to

be particularly important with respect to

mental health outcomes, although clearly

causal directions need to be handled with

care. Research into emotional well-being

and support often studies pupils’ percep-

tions of support by teachers (Roeser et al.,

2000; Reddy et al., 2003). These studies have

shown that pupils’ perceptions of support

are key and that whether these perceptions

correspond to actual levels of support is not

the important thing. ‘… It is not the support

experiences themselves, but the cognitive

representations of providers as available and

supportive, that influence outcomes’ (Reddy

et al., 2003, p.122).

Perceived teacher support is important in

many ways: it is related to depression and

self-esteem (Reddy et al., 2003; Roeser et al.,

2000) and is particularly important in ‘the

Colleen McLaughlin & Barbie Clarke

96 Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1

initiation, escalation and reduction of partic-

ipation in six adolescent health-risk behav-

iours’ (McNeely & Falci, 2004). Perceived

teacher support reliably predicts changes in

psychological adjustment. ‘In particular,

students who perceived increasing levels of

teacher support evidenced corresponding

decreases in depression and increases in self-

esteem. Likewise perceptions of decreasing

teacher support corresponded with increases

in depression and losses in self-esteem’

(Reddy et al., 2003, p.133). There are also

links between perceived availability of

teacher support and increased motivation to

learn and better mental health over time

(Roeser et al., 2000).

Pupils feel that support from teachers

declines over time and this is to be expected

as adolescents develop. However, Reddy et

al. note that ‘although these decrements

may be explained in part by normal develop-

mental changes, the less voluntary aspects of

this loss of teacher support are cause for

concern’ (Reddy et al., 2003, p.135). Harden

et al. (2001) also reported concerns from

young people about teachers not being a

good source of emotional support or self-

esteem. ‘Young people identified few school-

related facilitators of their mental health and

relations with teachers tended to be

described in negative terms’ (Harden et al.,

2001, p.147). Young people saw their peers

as supportive and these relationships are

focused on in detail later in this paper.

Harden et al. (ibid) also found a lack of

consultation with young people on the

barriers to and facilitators of mental health,

although they had very clear views. There

was an identified need to advance interven-

tions that aimed to improve social relations

between teachers and young people. Young

people identified three major aspects of

school life as barriers or facilitators to their

mental health: academic achievement and

engagement in learning; the boredom of

school, and the way teachers behave. There

are similarities between the conclusions of

this review and the previously discussed find-

ings of research on resilience.

Many studies show that the majority of

adolescents in school do feel supported by

their teachers and that they work in environ-

ments that supported meaningful learning,

supported improvement, mastery and

autonomy. However, ‘the opposite is also

true’ (Roeser et al., 2003, p.463). There are

large groups of young people who do not

experience the aforementioned and who

demonstrate the most social and academic

problems.

It would also seem that the 10 to 14 age

range is particularly important developmen-

tally and that at this age the power of rela-

tionships is amplified, as is the impact of

relationships on those who are vulnerable in

mental health terms. Much of the literature

emphasises that it is the disaffected and

disengaged child that needs particular

support from teachers, but the needs of this

group will not be focused on in detail here.

What we can conclude here is that the influ-

ence of teachers is very powerful for all

pupils and can cause high levels of distress or

reduce them (Roeser et al., 1998). It also

impacts upon academic and social

outcomes. It is a model that is human and

social. Learning, relating and belonging are

all highly interrelated to well-being and

attainment. The fragmented, cellular, initia-

tive driven approach which is characteristic

of many current schools and curriculum

runs counter to this model of relationships

as central to schooling. We now explore

more deeply what we can learn from

research about the important characteristics

of teacher-pupil relationships. What of the

nature of the support?

How do they matter?

In the evidence we see that the aspects of

these relationships that are important relate

generally to a sense of respect as a person

and a sense of agency within the relation-

ship.

In the studies that focus on pupils’

perceptions, the valued characteristics of the

relationships are the following: perceived

support or caring; perceived fairness;

Relational matters

Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1 97

respect, trust and being listened to; feelings

of competence; engagement in decision

making or agency; acting on the pupil’s

behalf or intervening, and being positive.

The importance of perceived support has

already been focused upon and it has been

argued (Resnick et al., 1997; Roeser et al.,

2000) that this support enables adolescents

to feel safe and to feel that they belong.

Young people struggling to explore adult

relationships can depend on teachers to be

more of an objective outsider. They learn

about themselves and relationships through

relating to teachers and this perceived

support is related to self-esteem and depres-

sive feelings. Juvonen (2007) has emphasised

the relationship between perceived support

and educational risk, as others have empha-

sised the link to emotional risk (Roeser et al.,

1998). Johnson (2008) and Juvonen (2007)

also emphasise the importance of perceived

fairness in these relationships, which in turn

links to the development of trust. Caring is

not solely demonstrating caring for the

young person as a person but is also linked

to caring for their academic progress

(Johnson, 2007). The relationship is

academic, social and personal. Respect for

the other is a key element too and is demon-

strated through listening (Weare & Gray,

2003; Johnson, 2008).

The other characteristics are related to

autonomy and agency. Research studies

show that pupils value engagement in deci-

sion making and processes within the rela-

tionship that allow for some autonomy, as fits

with the developmental needs of early

adolescents. Johnson (2008) also emphasises

the agency of the teacher, i.e. the teacher

intervening on behalf of or in the best inter-

ests of the pupils’ well-being. He argues that

conceptions of teachers are strongly action

oriented, and that children have high expec-

tations of teachers’ levels of efficacy and

power to influence. Australian pupils valued

an emphasis on the positive or on inter-

rupting negative cognitions (ibid).

So the power of certain qualities in

teacher-pupil relationships has the capacity

to enhance well-being or not. Juvonen

(2007) warns against over emphasising the

relationships alone and Figure 1 is a model

of how the different elements may interact.

The importance of pupil-pupil

relationships

Considerable research has also been carried

out into the importance of both family and

peers to children in early adolescence (Booth-

LaForce et al., 2005; Dunn, 1991, 1996, 2004)

and here we focus on the importance of

peers. Attachment theory has been shown to

have an influence on the way in which

children can relate to others (Booth-LaForce

et al., 2005; Bowlby, 1979). Where there are

complications in relationships with adults or

parents Booth-LaForce et al. (2005) suggest

that friendship can replace the inadequacy, or

lack, of family support and have a direct affect

on the psychosocial functioning of children

in early adolescence. The ability to form

friends, especially in school, appears to have a

direct effect on how children cope with crisis,

and their levels of well-being. Research indi-

cates that children with an understanding of

the emotional needs of others are able to

form better and more intimate relationships

(Dunn & Cutting, 1999; Dunn, 2004; Berndt,

1981; Douvan & Adelson, 1966).

Buhrmester’s research (1990) is particularly

interesting in that it asked adolescents to

report on their experience of their friends,

and vice versa. Children rated by friends as

compassionate and with the ability to share

intimate experiences were more likely to feel

at ease socially and experience less depres-

sion. Buhrmester (1990) argues that in child-

hood friendship centres on play, which

includes sharing and co-operation. If children

do not develop these skills in middle child-

hood, the transition to adolescence becomes

more difficult, and could mean that the

adolescent comes to feel isolated at a time

when they most need the intimacy of support

and understanding from peers.

Why do pupil–pupil relationships

matter?

Berndt points out that early adolescents ‘are

not treated as children, but they are not

treated as adults either’ (Berndt, 1982,

p.1447) and, therefore, children at this age

are more likely to turn to each other for

support. Research by Larson and colleagues

(Larson, 2002; Larson et al., 1996) based on

self-report has shown that early adolescents

are more likely to spend time talking to

friends than any other single activity, and

Csikszentmihalyi et al. (1977) show that

children at this age are most happy when

talking to peers. Early adolescents regard

close friends as a source of comfort and a

place where concerns and feelings can be

expressed (Savin-Williams & Berndt, 1990;

Azmitia & Lippman, 1999a); children at this

age are especially likely to share intimate

thoughts and feelings (Berndt, 1981;

Douvan & Adelson, 1966). The evidence

appears to suggest that girls are likely to

share more intimate exchanges than boys

(ibid). Mannarino (1978, 1979), however,

found that both male and female adoles-

cents with a best friend whom they regarded

as consistently available also reported higher

feelings of self-esteem than those without a

close friendship. It is interesting to note that

the deterioration of friendship at this age

has been viewed as a natural process, as

friends drift apart or simply do not see each

other anymore because of the change of

school (Azmitia & Lippman, 1999b).

How do pupil-pupil relationships

matter?

The way children form and maintain friend-

ships in early adolesence, and the interac-

tion they have with larger groups, is believed

to have a significant role in adolescents’

psychosocial development (Coleman &

Hendry, 1999). Dunn (1996, 2004) in partic-

ular has written extensively on the impor-

tance of friendship and emotional

communication in middle childhood. Dunn

(2004) describes a teenager who took part in

the London research thinking back to the

time when she was 10 and her parents split

Colleen McLaughlin & Barbie Clarke

Figure 1: A proposed framework summarising the associations among pupil behaviour,

school-based relationships, and sense of connectedness.

(Adapted from ‘Sense of Belonging, Social Relationships, and School Functioning’, by J. Juvonen.

In P.A. Alexander & P.H. Winne (Eds., 2006), Handbook of Educational Psychology (2nd ed.),

Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.)

Relationship with Teachers

● Perceived support

● Conflict

● Perceived fairness

Relationship with Classmates

● Emotional support by friends

● Behaviours

● Group norms

● Peer Rejection/Bullying experiences

Student Behaviours

● Engagement

● Pro/Antisocial acts

Sense of Connectedness

98 Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1

Relational matters

Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1 99

up. The 15-year-old recalled that it was at this

time her friends became immensely impor-

tant. ‘I was glad I had spent the last eight

years of my life with these people because

they understood what to do and how to do it,

to make me happy. I felt such a sensation of

sticking together’ (2004, p.70). Friends then

can act as a buffer between parents and

children, especially at times of conflict or

trauma.

The notion of popularity is important to

adolescents; the group effect can be both

reassuring and allow a sense of experimenta-

tion. Coleman and Hendry (1999, p.150)

argue that ‘crowds provide secondary-school

pupils with frequent opportunities to experi-

ment with their identity while maintaining a

sense of group belonging.’ They point out,

however, that some children can be unpop-

ular, and that their lack of social encounters

means that they do not experience the

psychosocial exchanges needed to achieve

greater social skills.

Peer friendship can also have a negative

effect on adolescent behaviour. Steinberg

and Manahan (2007) found that between

the ages of 10 and 14 there were no age

differences in resistance to peer influence,

resulting in sometimes destructive behav-

iour, but that resistance rose steadily as

adolescents became older, more auto-

nomous, and followed their own values and

judgment. It could be argued, therefore,

that help and support is needed at an earlier

age, before or at the onset of early adoles-

cence.

Cotterell (2007) writes ‘the fundamental

task of schools is to create a community

where students feel they belong and that

their contribution is valued’ (p.199). Many

adolescents then prefer to turn to other

adolescents rather than other adults (e.g.

school personnel) when seeking support for

emotional or traumatic events. Cowie (1998,

1999), Cotterell (2007), and Bosacki and

Astington (1999) suggest that peers may be

more important in early adolescent’s social

lives than teachers.

Final reflections

It is not new to argue that relationships

matter but the body of evidence is now quite

large and powerful. We can conclude that

the connections between people in schools

are a driving force in shaping engagement

with school. This sense of belonging influ-

ences well-being, academic outcomes and

social development, short and long term. All

these aspects are interrelated and disentan-

gling them is like untying a spider’s web. The

interconnections between these elements

are important and complex: they are not to

be ignored. They reinforce Rutter’s (1991)

insistence that schools are powerful institu-

tions which influence social development

and that there is a need to have appropriate

social goals. We can also conclude that rela-

tionships with teachers and pupils in schools

are potentially powerful for all pupils, and

particularly so for the more emotionally

vulnerable.

So engaging with the promotion of posi-

tive mental health for young people entails

building communities in schools in which

young people can have sustaining and mean-

ingful relationships, which they perceive as

supportive. These perceptions emerge as

important in influencing well-being. The

evidence we have reviewed brings into ques-

tion an individual programmatic response as

a primary strategy for the enhancement of

well-being. It suggests that we need to move

beyond the individualistic conception

embodied in many of these research designs

and in programmes that suggest that

reshaping young people is the way forward.

What is missing from the studies we

reviewed is the complexity of schools as

social institutions and the interplay of these

factors. We need more than correlational

studies to help us understand in greater

depth why relationships matter so much. We

also see that issues of gender, class and

power and values play their part in relating

and these elements are mentioned but

underplayed in many of these studies.

Two convincing theoretical models are

that of the person-environment fit (Roeser et

al., 2000) and of attachment to school

(Smith, 2006). These models posit a model

that accounts for relationships and does not

reduce the complexity. Roeser et al. (ibid)

argue that we could do much better at

working with developmental processes, such

as the search for and development of iden-

tity in early adolescents the need for

emotional safety and the need to affiliate

and belong in schools (Juvonen, 2007;

Goodenow, 1993).

What is striking, however, is the lack of

attention to these findings by policy makers.

The research we have reviewed suggests a

very human discourse and conception of

education, with the notion of a supportive

school being a very important one for those

concerned with young people’s emotional,

social and cognitive development. Is it

because it challenges the technical discourse

of much recent policy directives and it is not

easily simplified? The lack of development in

practice on the relational is stark. An

emphasis on relational matters is in contrast

to a discourse of managing behaviour and a

rather singular focus on the ‘academic’,

which views it as separate from the emotional

and social. The power of the concept of

connectedness to school (or the very similar

concepts of attachment and engagement) is

one that has impressed us. If we are to be

concerned with young people’s emotional

well-being, as well as their social and cogni-

tive development, then attention to the

processes by which young people engage

and disengage is important.

The role of relationships with teachers

and pupils is central to engagement. Bowlby

(1969) argued that an attachment figure was

an essential component to mental well-

being, ‘human beings of all ages are happiest

and able to deploy their talents to best

advantage when they are confident that,

standing behind them, there are one or

more trusted persons who will come to their

aid should difficulties arise’ (Bowlby, 1979,

p.103). The sense of belonging that can arise

from an emotional connection to individuals

within the school, including peers and

teachers, is fundamental to the sense of

connectedness. Eccles and colleagues

(1997), for example, have long argued for

attention to the fit between the school envi-

ronment and adolescents’ development.

In contrast to the lack of pedagogical

development around teacher-pupil relation-

ships, many schools have taken very seriously

the importance and capacity of peer rela-

tionships to provide emotional support and

to improve well-being. There are many initia-

tives such as peer counselling, circles of

friends and peer mentoring that aim to

harness the learning and social capacity of

peers. We are arguing, however, that while

schools recognise the importance of peer

relationships, it is the area of teacher-pupil

relationships that have been neglected, and

which could benefit pupils’ well-being

considerably

Johnson (2008) argues for the impor-

tance of the ordinary or the everyday in

shaping young people’s capacity to be

resilient and face risk. Our review of the liter-

ature suggests that the centrality of teacher-

pupil relationships in the everyday

experience of schooling is being underdevel-

oped and the lack of research on the devel-

opment of practice is noteworthy. It is may

be because it is seemingly more powerful to

devise a programme of activities but the

everyday and pervasive power of relation-

ships to affect learning, social development

and mental health would suggest this is not

the best way forward. There is a need to

develop the responsibility for the role that

schools play in the psychosocial develop-

ment of young people. Reforming the

curriculum is not going to be sufficient.

Relationships matter a great deal.

Address for correspondence

Dr Colleen McLaughlin

184 Hills Road,

Cambridge CB2 2PQ.

E-mail: [email protected]

Colleen McLaughlin & Barbie Clarke

100 Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1

This paper arises from a systematic review of

research being undertaken for the Changing

Adolescence Programme (previously known as the

Adolescent Mental Health Initiative). This is a

specific programme of research on time trends in

adolescent mental health, set up by the Nuffield

Foundation in 2005. The particular focus is the

relationship between the school experiences of

young people aged 10 to 14 and their mental

health outcomes.

Relational matters

References

Azmitia, M. & Lippman, D. (1999). On the relation

of personal experience to early adolescents’

reasoning about best friendship deterioration.

Social Development, 8, 275–291.

Barclay, J. & Doll, B. (2001). Early prospective studies

of high school drop-out. School Psychology Quar-

terly, 16, 357–369.

Berndt, T. (1981). The effects of friendship on pro-

social intentions and behaviour. Child Development

52, 638–643.

Berndt, T. (1982). The features and effects of friend-

ship in early adolescence. Early Adolescence, 53,

1447–1460.

Blum, R. & Libbey, H. (2004). School connectedness

–strengthening health and education outcomes

for teenagers. Journal of School Health, 74, 231–232.

Bond, L., Butler, H., Thomas, L., Carlin, J., Glover, S.,

Bowes, G. & Patton, G. (2007). Social and school

connectedness in early secondary school as

predictors of late teenage substance use, mental

health, and academic outcomes. Journal of Adoles-

cent Health, 40, 357.

Bond, L., Patton, G., Glover, S., Carlin, J.B., Butler,

H., Lyndal Thomas, L. & Bowes, G. (2004). The

Gatehouse Project: Can a multilevel school inter-

vention affect emotional well-being and health

risk behaviours? Journal of Epidemiology and

Community Health, 58, 997–1003.

Booth-LaForce, C., Rubin, K., Rose-Karsnor, L. &

Burgess, K. (2005). Attachment and friendship

predictors of psychosocial functioning in middle

childhood and the mediating roles of social

support and self-worth. In K. Kerns & R.

Richardson (Eds.), Attachment in middle childhood.

New York: Guilford Press.

Bosacki, S. & Wilde Astington, J. (1999). Theory of

mind in pre-adolescence: Relations between

social understanding and social competence.

Social Development, 8(2). 237–255.

Bowen, N. & Bowen, G. (1998). The effects of home

micro system risk factors and school micro system

protective factors on student academic perform-

ance and affective investment in schooling.

Social Work in Education, 20, 219–231.

Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss. Volume 1.

London: Hogarth Press.

Bowlby, J. (1979). The making and breaking of affectional

bonds. London: Routledge.

Buhrmester, D. (1990). Intimacy of friendship, inter-

personal competence, and adjustment during

pre-adolescence and adolescence. Child Develop-

ment, 61, 1101–1111.

Buhrmester, D. & Prager, K. (1995). Patterns and

functions of self-disclosure during childhood and

adolescence. In K. Rotenberg (Ed.), Disclosure

processes in children and adolescents. New York:

Cambridge University Press.

Catalano, R., Kostelman, R. & Hawkins, J. (1996).

Modeling the etiology of adolescent substance

use: A test of the social development model.

Journal of Drug Issues, 26(2), 429–455.

Coleman, J.C. & Hendry, L.B. (1999). The nature of

adolescence (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.

Cotterell, J. (2007). Social networks in youth and adoles-

cence. Hove, East Sussex: Routledge.

Cowie, H. (1998). Perspectives of teachers and pupils

on the experience of peer support against

bullying. Educational Research and Evaluation, 4,

108–125.

Cowie, H. (1999). Peers helping peers: Interventions,

initiatives and insights. Journal of Adolescence, 22,

433–436.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Nakamura, J. (1998). The

dynamics of intrinsic motivation: A study of

adolescents. In C. Ames & R. Ames (Eds.),

Research on motivation education: Goals an cognitions

(pp.45–71). New York: Academic Press.

Csikszentmihalyi, M., Larson, R. & Prescott, S.

(1977). The ecology of adolescent activity and

experience. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 6,

281–294.

Deci, E.L. (1992). The relation of interest to the

motivation of behaviour: A self-determination

theory perspective. In K.A. Renninger, S. Hidi &

A. Krapp (Eds.), The role of interest in learning and

development (pp.43–70). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Department for Education and Skills (2003). Every

Child Matters. London: HMSO.

Department for Education and Skills (2005). Excel-

lence and enjoyment: The social and emotional aspects

of learning. London: DFES.

Department of Health (2004). National service frame-

work for children, young people and maternity services:

The mental health and psychological well-being of

young people. London: HMSO.

Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1 101

Doll, B. & Hess, R. (2001). Through a new lens:

Contemporary psychological perspectives on

school completion and dropping out of high

school. School Psychology Quarterly, 16, 351–356.

Douvan, E. & Adelson, J. (1966). The adolescent experi-

ence. New York: Wiley.

Dunn, J. (1996). Children’s relationships: Bridging

the divide between cognitive and social develop-

ment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37,

507–518.

Dunn, J. (2004). Children’s friendships: The beginnings of

intimacy. Oxford: Blackwell.

Dunn, J., Brown, J. & Beardsall, L. (1991). Family talk

about emotions, and children’s later under-

standing of others’ emotions. Developmental

Psychology, 27, 448–455.

Dunn, J. & Cutting, A. (1999). Understanding others,

and individual differences in friendship inter-

actions in young children. Social Development, 8,

201–219.

Durlak, J.A. & Wells, A.M. (1997). Primary preven-

tion mental health programmes for children and

adolescents: A meta-analytic review. American

Journal of Community Psychology, 25(2), 115–152.

Eccles, J., Early, D., Frasier, K. & Belansky, E. (1997).

The relation of connection, regulation, and

support for autonomy to adolescents’ func-

tioning. Journal of Adolescent Research, 12, 263–286.

Ehly, S. & Vasquez, E. (1998). Peer counselling. In R.

Topping & S. Ehly (Eds.), Peer assisted learning.

Marwah, NJ: LEA,

Finn, J.D. (1993). School engagement and students at

risk. Washington: National Center for Education

Statistics.

Finn, J.D. (1997). Academic success among students

at risk for school failure. Journal of Applied

Psychology, 82(2), 221–234.

Glover, S., Burns, J., Butler, H. & Patton, G. (1998).

Social environments and the emotional well-

being of young people. Family Matters, 49, 11–16.

Goodenow, C. (1993). Classroom belonging among

early adolescent students: Relationships to moti-

vation and achievement. Journal of Early Adoles-

cence, 13, 21–43.

Harden, A., Rees, R., Shepherd, J., Brunton, G.,

Oliver, S. & Oakley, A. (2001). You ng peopl e a nd

mental health: A systematic review of research on

barriers and facilitators. London Institute of Educa-

tion: EPPI Centre (The EPPI Report).

Howard, S., Dryden, J. & Johnson, B. (1999). Child-

hood resilience: Review and critique of litera-

ture. Oxford Review of Education, 25(3), 307–323.

Johnson, B. (2008). Teacher-student relationships

which promote resilience at school: A micro level

analysis of students’ views. British Journal of

Guidance and Counselling, 36(4), 385–398.

Juvonen, J. (2007). Reforming middle schools: Focus

on continuity, social connectedness, and engage-

ment. Educational Psychologist, 42(4), 197–220.

Juvonen, J., Le, V-N, Kaganoff, T., Augustine, C. &

Constant, L. (2004). Focus on the wonder years:

Challenges facing the American middle school.

Santa Monica: RAND Corporation.

Larson, R. (2002). Globalisation, societal change,

and new technologies. In R. Larson, B. Bradford-

Brown & J. Mortimer (Eds.), Adolescents’ prepara-

tion for the future: Perils and promise: A report of the

study group on adolescence in the 21st century. Arbor,

MI: The Society for Research on Adolescence.

Larson, R., Richards, M., Moneta, G., Holmbeck, G.

& Duckett, E. (1996). Changes in adolescents’

daily interactions with their families from ages

10 to 18: Disengagement and transformation.

Developmental Psychology, 32, 744–754.

Libbey, H. (2004). Measuring student relationships

to school: Attachment, bonding, connectedness,

and engagement. Journal of School Health, 74,

274–282.

McNeely, C.A., Nonnemaker, J.M. & Blum, R.W.

(2002). Promoting school connectedness:

Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study

of Adolescent Health. Journal of School Health,

72(4), 138–146.

McNeely, C. & Falci, C. (2004). School connected-

ness and the transition into and out of health-risk

behaviour among adolescents: A comparison of

social belonging and teacher support. Journal of

School Health, 74(7), 284–292.

Mannarino, A. (1978). Friendship patterns and self-

concept development in pre-adolescent males.

Journal of Genetic Psychology, 133, 105–110.

Mannarino, A. (1979). The relationship between

friendship and altruism in pre-adolescent girls.

Psychiatry, 42, 280–284.

Marcus, R. & Sanders-Reio, J. (2001). The influence

of attachment on school completion. School

Psychology Quarterly, 16, 427–444.

Marks, H. (2000). Student engagement in instruc-

tional activity: Patterns in the elementary,

middle, and high school years. American Educa-

tional Research Journal, 37(1), 153–184.

Matza, D. (1999). Delinquency and drift. New Jersey:

Transaction Publishers.

Mayall, B. (2007). Children’s lives outside school and

their educational impact. The Cambridge Primary

Review Briefing Report, 8/1.

Mental Health Foundation (1999). Bright future:

Promoting children and young people’s mental health.

London: Mental Health Foundation.

Midgley, C & Elelin, K (1998). Middle school reform

and early adolescent well-being: The good news

and the bad. Educational Psychologist, 33(4),

195–206.

Murray, C. & Greenberg, M. (2000). Children’s rela-

tionship with teachers and bonds with school:

An investigation of patterns and correlates in

middle childhood. Journal of School Psychology,

38(5), 423–445.

Colleen McLaughlin & Barbie Clarke

102 Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1

National Research Council (2004). Engaging schools:

Fostering high school students’ motivation to learn.

Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Newmann, F. (1992). Student engagement and achieve-

ment in American secondary schools. New York:

Teache rs College Pres s.

Ofsted (2007). TellUs 2 Natio nal Rep ort. London:

Ofsted.

Ofsted (2008). TellUs 3 Natio nal Rep ort. London:

Ofsted.

Pople, L. (2009). The Good Childhood Inquiry: What

children told us. London: Children’s Society.

Reddy, R., Rhodes, J. & Mulhall, P. (2003). The influ-

ence of teacher support on student adjustment

in the middle school years: A latent growth curve

study. Development and Psychopathology, 15,

119–138.

Resnick, M.D., Harris, L.J. & Blum, R.W. (1993). The

impact of caring and connectedness on adoles-

cent health and well-being. Journal of Paediatrics

and Child Health, 29(1), 3–9.

Resnick, M.D., Bearman, P.S., Blum, R.W. & Bauman,

K.E. (1997). Protecting adolescents from harm.

Findings from the National Longitudinal Study

on Adolescent Health. Journal of the American

Medical Association, 278, 823–832.

Resnick, M.D. (2000). Protective factors, resiliency

and healthy youth development. Adolescent Medi-

cine, 11(1). 157–165.

Resnick M. (2005). Healthy youth development:

Getting our priorities right. Medical Journal of

Australia, 183(8), 398–400.

Roeser, R.W., Eccles, J.S. & Sameroff, A.J. (2000).

School as a context of early adolescents’

academic and social-emotional development;

a summary of the research findings. The Elemen-

tary School Journal, 100(5), 443–471.

Roeser, R.W., Eccles, J.S. & Strobel, K. (1998).

Linking the study of schooling and mental

health: Selected issues and empirical illustrations

at the level of the individual. Educational Psycho-

logist, 33, 153–176.

Rosenfeld, L.B., Richman, J.M. & Bowen, G.L.

(2000). Social support networks and school

outcomes: The centrality of the teacher. Child

and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 17(3), 204–226.

Rudduck, J. & Flutter, J. (2004). Consulting pupils:

What’s in it for schools? London: Routledge.

Rutter, M., Maughan, B., Mortimore, P. & Ouston, J.

(1979). Fifteen-thousand hours: Secondary schools

and their effects on children. London: Open Books.

Rutter, M. (1991). Pathways to and from childhood to

adult life: The role of schooling. Pastoral Care in

Education, 9(3), 3–10.

Rutter, M. & Smith, D. (1995). Psychosocial disorders in

young people: Time trends and their causes.

Chichester: John Wiley.

Savin-Williams, R. & Berndt, T. (1990). Friendship

and peer relations. In S. Feldman & G. Elliot

(Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Smith, D. (2006). School experience and delin-

quency at ages 13 to 16. Edinburgh Study of Youth

Transitions and Crime, no. 13. Edinburgh Centre

for Law and Society, University of Edinburgh.

Steinberg, L. (1996). Beyond the classroom: Why school

reform has failed and what parents need to do.

New York: Simon & Schuster.

Steinberg, L. & Monahan, K. (2007). Age differences

in resistance to peer influence. Developmental

Psychology, 43(6), 1531–1543.

Tindall, J. & Gray, H. (1989). Peer counselling.

Philadelphia: Research Press.

Tindall, J. (1995). Peer programmes: An in-depth look at

peer helping: Planning, implementation, and adminis-

tration. St Charles, MO: Accelerated Develop-

ment.

Turner, J. (1999). Some current issues in research on

social identity and self-categorisation theories.

In N. Ellemers, R. Spears & B. Doosje (Eds.),

Social identity: Context, commitment, content

(pp.6–34). Oxford: Blackwell.

UNICEF Innocenti Report 7 (2007). Child poverty in

perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich

countries. Florence: Innocenti Research Centre.

Vostanis, P. (2007). Mental health and mental disor-

ders. In J. Coleman & A. Hagell, Adolescence risk

and resilience: Against the odds. Chichester: John

Wiley and Sons Ltd.

Weare, K. & Gray, G. (2003). What works in developing

children’s emotional and social well-being? Research

Report RR456. London: Department for Educa-

tion and Skills.

Wells, J., Barlow, J. & Stewart-Brown, S. (2003).

A systematic review of universal approaches to

mental health promotion in schools. Health

Education, 103, 197–220.

Wentzel. K.R. (1998). School relationships and moti-

vation in middle school: The role of parents,

teachers and peers. Journal of Educational

Psychology, 90(2), 202–209.

Wubbels, T. & Levy, J. (1993). Do you know what you

look like? Interpersonal relationships in education.

London: Routledge.

Relational matters

Educational & Child Psychology Vol. 27 No. 1 103