Moderating Role of School Climate on the Association between School Connectedness and Well-Being Among Adolescents with ADHD

Background

The well-being and school connectedness of students with ADHD are critical areas of concern, as these factors significantly influence their academic and social outcomes. Although prior research has examined the direct and mediating effects of school connectedness on depression and social function, school climate in adolescent well-being, school connectedness and academic achievements, and mental health and emotional well-being, there remains a dearth of empirical evidence that focuses on the influential effect of school climate on school connectedness and well-being, especially for adolescents with ADHD. As such, this paper examines how school climate affects the relationship between school connectedness and well-being in adolescents with ADHD after controlling for peer bullying and school type.

Method

This study used secondary longitudinal data, the Future of Families and Child Well-Being Study (FFCWS), which followed a large cohort of children born between 1998 and 2000 and their birth parents living in 20 US cities. The study sample included 541 adolescents with ADHD from Wave 6, when the children reached the age of 15.

The current study used the EPOCH (Engagement, Perseverance, Optimism, Connectedness, and Happiness), a 20-item tool of a four-point Likert scale, to measure adolescents’ overall well-being by assessing five positive psychological characteristics that foster well-being, physical health, and other positive outcomes in adulthood. School connectedness was measured using a four-point Likert scale assessing the degree of inclusiveness, closeness, happiness, and safety a teen experiences at school. School climate was measured using a 10-item tool with a four-point Likert scale. The control variables were peer bullying, measured on a four-point Likert scale, and school type, a categorical response. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 29.0, and the PROCESS macro (Model 1) was used to conduct moderation analysis.

Results

The adolescents’ mean age was 15.61 (SD = .76), with 72.26% male and 27.74% female; 20.1% identified as white, 44.7% as black or African American, and the remainder as Hispanic and other races. The moderation analysis examined whether school climate moderates the relationship between school connectedness and well-being, after controlling for school types and bullying at schools. The results showed that the overall model was significant, F(5,470)=24.94, p <.001, with R²=.20, which explains 20% of the variance in well-being. The interaction between school connectedness and school climate was significant (B=0.43, SE=0.13, t=3.35, p=.001), accounting for an additional 1.9% of variance in well-being (ΔR²=.019, F(1, 470)=11.25, p=.001). Conditional effects reveal that at lower school climate (−1SD; −0.58), school connectedness weakly affects well-being, whereas at higher school climate (+1SD; 0.52), it more strongly influences the well-being of ADHD adolescents.

Conclusion and Implications

Findings suggest that the school climate has a crucial role in shaping the relationship between school connectedness and well-being. A more positive school climate enhances school connectedness and the overall well-being of adolescents with ADHD. These findings indicate that school policies and interventions should prioritize overall climate, which could lead to better school connectedness, improved well-being, and better academic outcomes for adolescents with ADHD.