Psychosocial school factors and mental health of first grade secondary school students—Results of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey in Serbia

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between psychosocial school factors and life satisfaction, symptoms of depression and psychosomatic health complaints among first grade secondary school students in Serbia. We analysed data from the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in the Republic of Serbia. Analyzed psychosocial school factors included satisfaction with school, schoolwork pressure, teacher support, classmate support and being bullied at school. Life satisfaction was assessed by the 11-step Cantril’s ladder (cutoff >5). Symptoms of depression were measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10) and psychosomatic health complaints by using the HBSC symptom checklist. Univariable and multivariable binary logistic regression was used to determine independent predictors of students’ life satisfaction, symptoms of depression and psychosomatic health complaints in the school environment, while also considering their socio-demographic characteristics and perceived family and friend support. The study included 1605 students (average age 15.26 ±0.44 years), of whom 50.3% were females. Results from the binary logistic regression analyses showed that life satisfaction was positively related to school satisfaction and classmate support, and negatively to being bullied at school. Symptoms of depression were positively associated with schoolwork pressure and being bullied at school, and negatively with teacher and classmate support. All analyzed factors of the school environment were significantly related to psychosomatic health complaints, whereby schoolwork pressure and being bullied at school were positively associated, while teacher and classmate support and satisfaction with school were negatively associated. Given the established association of psychosocial school factors with mental health, there is a need for targeted measures both at school and community level with the aim of improving social support in the school environment, reducing schoolwork burden and preventing bullying at school, potentially resulting in the overall improvement of mental health of the first grade secondary school students.