PMID- 25230941
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20150831
LR  - 20211021
IS  - 1471-2458 (Electronic)
IS  - 1471-2458 (Linking)
VI  - 14
DP  - 2014 Sep 17
TI  - Children's participation in school: a cross-sectional study of the relationship 
      between school environments, participation and health and well-being outcomes.
PG  - 964
LID - 10.1186/1471-2458-14-964 [doi]
LID - 964
AB  - BACKGROUND: Schools are a key setting for health promotion and improvement 
      activities and the psycho-social environment of the school is an important 
      dimension for promoting the health and well-being of children. The development of 
      Health Promoting Schools (HPS) draws on the settings-based approach to health 
      promotion and includes child participation as one of its basic values. This paper 
      investigates the relationships between child participation, the school 
      environment and child outcomes. METHODS: Study participants were recruited from 
      nine primary schools, three of which were designated as Health Promoting Schools 
      (HPS). Each HPS was matched with two non-HPS (NHPS) with similar characteristics. 
      Two hundred and thirty-one pupils in the 4th-6th class groups completed 
      self-report questionnaires to document their perspectives on the school 
      socio-ecological environment, how they take part in school life, school processes 
      and their health and well-being. RESULTS: School participation was measured with 
      four scales: participation in school decisions and rules, school activities, 
      school events and positive perception of school participation. The differences in 
      the reported mean score for three of the four scales were marginal and not 
      statistically significant. However, the mean score for reported positive 
      perception of school participation was significantly lower (chi2 = 5.13, df =1, 
      p < 0.05) among pupils in HPS (mean = 26.03; SD 3.37) compared to NHPS 
      (mean = 26.30; SD 3.36). Participation in school decisions and rules (OR 1.22, 
      95% CI 1.12-1.33), participating in school activities (OR 1.20, 95% CI 
      1.10-1.31), participating in school events (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.10-1.29) and 
      reported positive perception of school participation (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.15-1.39) 
      were all positively associated with health and well-being outcomes for all 
      pupils. Logistic regression analyses indicated positive associations between 
      school participation and school socio-ecological environment. CONCLUSIONS: These 
      findings suggest that school participation is important for children in schools 
      and is relevant for improved school environment, relationships and positive 
      health and well-being outcomes. The positive associations between school 
      participation and school socio-ecological environment and health and well-being 
      outcomes suggests that pupil health and well-being and school relationships could 
      be improved or sustained by providing or supporting an environment that 
      encourages pupil participation in school life.
FAU - John-Akinola, Yetunde O
AU  - John-Akinola YO
FAU - Nic-Gabhainn, Saoirse
AU  - Nic-Gabhainn S
AD  - Health Promotion Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, College of Medicine, 
      Nursing and Health Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. 
      saoirse.nicgabhainn@nuigalway.ie.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20140917
PL  - England
TA  - BMC Public Health
JT  - BMC public health
JID - 100968562
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Child
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - Female
MH  - *Health
MH  - Health Promotion/*methods
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - *School Health Services
MH  - *Schools
MH  - *Social Environment
MH  - *Social Participation
MH  - Surveys and Questionnaires
PMC - PMC4177162
EDAT- 2014/09/19 06:00
MHDA- 2015/09/01 06:00
PMCR- 2014/09/17
CRDT- 2014/09/19 06:00
PHST- 2014/02/24 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2014/08/21 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2014/09/19 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2014/09/19 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2015/09/01 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2014/09/17 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 1471-2458-14-964 [pii]
AID - 7073 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/1471-2458-14-964 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - BMC Public Health. 2014 Sep 17;14:964. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-964.