Abstract
Over the years, research examining student psychological ill-being has sought to explain this phenomenon based on the influences of conditions that students bring into the school environment. This study uses a different lens by directly examining how school relational conditions might be associated with psychological ill-being in students. Using the framework of Self-Determination Theory and data from 2522 US public school students, findings from this study revealed that both faculty and peer relational conditions were significantly associated with psychological need frustration, which was used as the marker for student psychological ill-being. Further, students with free-reduced lunch status reported experiencing need frustration more than their counterparts with non-free-reduced lunch status. Need frustration at the school level was also found to be associated with differences in student perceptions of school relational conditions. Collectively, findings from this study provide potentially useful directions for school practitioners and other educational stakeholders by extracting valuable markers for managing the challenge of student psychological ill-being within the school environment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
For inquiries about the data, please contact the first author.
Code availability
Not applicable.
References
Abry, T., Bryce, C. I., Swanson, J., Bradley, R. H., Fabes, R. A., & Corwyn, R. F. (2017). Classroom-level adversity: Associations with children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors across elementary school. Developmental Psychology, 53(3), 497–510.
Adams, C., & Khojasteh, J. (2018). Igniting students’ inner determination: The role of a need-supportive climate. Journal of Educational Administration, 56(4), 382–397. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-04-2017-0036.
Adie, J. W., Duda, J. L., & Ntoumanis, N. (2012). Perceived coach-autonomy support, basic need satisfaction and the well-and ill-being of elite youth soccer players: A longitudinal investigation. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13(1), 51–59.
Amoura, C., Berjot, S., Gillet, N., Caruana, S., Cohen, J., & Finez, L. (2015). Autonomy-supportive and controlling styles of teaching: Opposite or distinct teaching styles? Swiss Journal of Psychology, 74(3), 141–158. https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000156.
Assor, A., Kaplan, H., & Roth, G. (2002). Choice is good, but relevance is excellent: Autonomyenhancing and suppressing teacher behaviours predicting students’ engagement in schoolwork. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72(2), 261–278.
Bartholomew, K. J., Ntoumanis, N., Ryan, R. M., & Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C. (2011a). Psychological need thwarting in the sport context: Assessing the darker side of athletic experience. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 33(1), 75–102.
Bartholomew, K. J., Ntoumanis, N., Ryan, R. M., Bosch, J. A., & Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C. (2011b). Self-determination theory and diminished functioning: The role of interpersonal control and psychological need thwarting. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(11), 1459–1473.
Bartholomew, K. J., Ntoumanis, N., Cuevas, R., & Lonsdale, C. (2014). Job pressure and ill-health in physical education teachers: The mediating role of psychological need thwarting. Teaching and Teacher Education, 37, 101–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2013.10.006.
Berliner, D. (2013). Effects of inequality and poverty vs. teachers and schooling on America’s youth. Teachers College Record, 115(12), 1–26.
Biag, M. (2016). A descriptive analysis of school connectedness: The views of school personnel. Urban Education, 51(1), 32–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085914539772.
Bond, L., Butler, H., Thomas, L., Carlin, J., Glover, S., Bowes, G., & Patton, G. (2007a). Social and school connectedness in early secondary school as predictors of late teenage substance use, mental health, and academic outcomes. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40(4), 357.e9–357.e18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.10.013.
Bond, L., Wolfe, S., Tollit, M., Butler, H., & Patton, G. (2007b). A comparison of the gatehouse bullying scale and the peer relations questionnaire for students in secondary school. Journal of School Health, 77(2), 75–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2007.00170.x.
CDC. (2020). Data and statistics on children’s mental health | CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html
Cegala, D. J. (1981). Interaction involvement: A cognitive dimension of communicative competence. Communication Education, 30(2), 109–121.
Chen, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Beyers, W., Boone, L., Deci, E. L., Van der Kaap-Deeder, J., Duriez, B., Lens, W., Matos, L., Mouratidis, A., Ryan, R. M., Sheldon, K. M., Soenens, B., Van Petegem, S., & Verstuyf, J. (2015). Basic psychological need satisfaction, need frustration, and need strength across four cultures. Motivation and Emotion, 39(2), 216–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-014-9450-1.
Cheon, S. H., Reeve, J., & Song, Y. G. (2016). A teacher-focused intervention to decrease PE students’ amotivation by increasing need satisfaction and decreasing need frustration. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 38(3), 217–235.
Cheon, S. H., Reeve, J., & Ntoumanis, N. (2018). A needs-supportive intervention to help PE teachers enhance students’ prosocial behavior and diminish antisocial behavior. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 35, 74–88.
Collie, R. J., Granziera, H., & Martin, A. J. (2019). Teachers' motivational approach: Links with students’ basic psychological need frustration, maladaptive engagement, and academic outcomes. Teaching and Teacher Education, 86, 102872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.07.002.
Cordeiro, P., Paixão, P., Lens, W., Lacante, M., & Luyckx, K. (2016). The Portuguese validation of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale: Concurrent and longitudinal relations to well-being and ill-being. Psychologica Belgica, 56(3), 193–209.
Cortina, M. A., Fazel, M., Hlungwani, T. M., Kahn, K., Tollman, S., Cortina-Borja, M., & Stein, A. (2013). Childhood psychological problems in school settings in rural southern Africa. PLoS One, 8(6), e65041. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065041.
Cuevas, R., Sánchez-Oliva, D., Bartholomew, K. J., Ntoumanis, N., & García-Calvo, T. (2015). Adaptation and Validation of the Psychological Need Thwarting Scale in Spanish Physical Education Teachers. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 18. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2015.56.
De Meyer, J., Tallir, I. B., Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Aelterman, N., Van den Berghe, L., Speleers, L., & Haerens, L. (2014). Does observed controlling teaching behavior relate to students’ motivation in physical education? Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(2), 541–554. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034399.
De Meyer, J., Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Aelterman, N., Van Petegem, S., & Haerens, L. (2016). Do students with different motives for physical education respond differently to autonomy-supportive and controlling teaching? Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 22, 72–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2015.06.001.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2002). Handbook of Self-Determination Research. University Rochester Press.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). Self-determination theory: A macrotheory of human motivation, development, and health. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 49(3), 182–185. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012801.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2016). Optimizing Students’ Motivation in the Era of Testing and Pressure: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective. Building Autonomous Learners, 9–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-630-0_2.
Deci, E. L., Spiegel, N. H., Ryan, R. M., Koestner, R., & Kauffman, M. (1982). Effects of performance standards on teaching styles: Behavior of controlling teachers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(6), 852–859. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.74.6.852.
Digest of Education Statistics. (2018). National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved June 22, 2020, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/
Forsyth, P. B., Adams, C. M., & Hoy, W. K. (2011). Collective trust: why schools can't improve without it. Teachers College Press.
Gunnell, K. E., Crocker, P. R. E., Wilson, P. M., Mack, D. E., & Zumbo, B. D. (2013). Psychological need satisfaction and thwarting: A test of Basic Psychological Needs Theory in physical activity contexts. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14(5), 599–607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2013.03.007.
Haerens, L., Aelterman, N., Vansteenkiste, M., Soenens, B., & Van Petegem, S. (2015). Do perceived autonomy-supportive and controlling teaching relate to physical education students’ motivational experiences through unique pathways? Distinguishing between the bright and dark side of motivation. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 16, 26–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2014.08.013.
Hein, V., Koka, A., & Hagger, M. S. (2015). Relationships between perceived teachers’ controlling behaviour, psychological need thwarting, anger and bullying behaviour in high-school students. Journal of Adolescence, 42, 103–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.04.003.
Hodges, T. (2020). School engagement is more than just talk. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.gallup.com/education/244022/school-engagement-talk.aspx
Hofferber, N., Eckes, A., & Wilde, M. (2014). Effects of autonomy supportive vs. controlling teachers’ behavior on students’ achievement. European Journal of Educational Research, 3(4), 177–184. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.3.4.177.
Jang, H., Kim, E. J., & Reeve, J. (2016). Why students become more engaged or more disengaged during the semester: A self-determination theory dual-process model. Learning and Instruction, 43, 27–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.01.002.
Lee, S. J. (2007). The relations between the student–teacher trust relationship and school success in the case of Korean middle schools. Educational Studies, 33(2), 209–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055690601068477.
Lopez, S. J., Agrawal, S., & Calderon, V. J. (2010). Gallup student poll technical report. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.gallup.com/services/177095/gallup-student-poll-technical-report.aspx
McGuire, K. (2014). Time to put poverty back on the education reform agenda. Philanthropy News Digest (PND). http://philanthropynewsdigest.org/commentary-and-opinion/time-to-put-poverty-back-on-the-education-reform-agenda
Murdock, T. B. (1994). Understanding alienation: towards ecological perspectives on student motivation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Delaware, Newark.
Murdock, T. B. (1999). The social context of risk: Status and motivational predictors of alienation in middle school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(1), 62–75.
Murphey, D., & Sacks, V. (2019. Supporting students with adverse childhood experiences. American Federation of Teachers. https://www.aft.org/ae/summer2019/murphey_sacks
Murphey, D., Stratford, B., Gooze, R., Bringewatt, E., Mae Cooper, P., Carney, R., & Rojas, A. (2014). Are the Children Well? RWJF. https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2014/07/are-the-children-well-.html
National Center for Children in Poverty. (2017). Children’s mental health. Retrieved June 22, 2020, from http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_929.html
National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). The NCES Fast Facts Tool provides quick answers to many education questions (National Center for Education Statistics). National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a part of the U.S. Department of Education. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=898.
Niemiec, C. P., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). Autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the classroom: Applying self-determination theory to educational practice. Theory and Research in Education, 7(2), 133–144. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477878509104318.
O’Farrell, S. L., & Morrison, G. M. (2003). A factor analysis exploring school bonding and related constructs among upper elementary students. The California School Psychologist, 8(1), 53–72.
Oklahoma Center for Education Policy. (2017). [Unpublished raw data on School Climate and other psychological correlates].
Olson, A., & Peterson, R. L. (2015). Student Engagement. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Student Engagement Project. https://k12engagement.unl.edu/strategy-briefs/Student%20Engagement%2010-2-15_0.pdf.
Reeve, J. (2012). A self-determination theory perspective on student engagement. In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 149–172). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_7.
Rossen, E., & Cowan, K. C. (2014). Improving mental health in schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(4), 8–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721714561438.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000a). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000b). The darker and brighter sides of human existence: Basic psychological needs as a unifying concept. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 319–338. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_03.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101860.
Tschannen-Moran, M. (2014). Trust matters: leadership for successful schools (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Tschannen-Moran, M., Salloum, S. J., & Goddard, R. D. (2014). Context matters: The influence of collective beliefs and shared norms. In International handbook of research on teachers’ beliefs (1st ed., pp. 301–316). Chapter, Routledge.
Vansteenkiste, M., & Ryan, R. M. (2013). On psychological growth and vulnerability: Basic psychological need satisfaction and need frustration as a unifying principle. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 23(3), 263–280. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032359.
Vansteenkiste, M., Ryan, R. M., & Soenens, B. (2020). Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions. Motivation and Emotion, 44(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09818-1.
Washor, E., & Mojkowski, C. (2014). Student Disengagement: It's Deeper Than You Think. Phi Delta Kappan, 95(8), 8–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171409500803
Varga, S., Piko, B. F., & Fitzpatrick, K. M. (2014). Socioeconomic inequalities in mental well-being among Hungarian adolescents: A cross-sectional study. International Journal for Equity in Health, 13(1), 100. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-014-0100-8.
Yin, R. K. (2017). Case study research and applications: Design and methods. Sage publications.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Both authors collaborated in the conception and design of the study. Author 1 drafted the work, and author 2 did a critical revision of the content before submission.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval
Data collection was approved and administered by partnering institution and supported by the University of Oklahoma’s Institutional Review Board.
Consent to participate
Parents had the choice to remove students from participating in the survey, and students had the choice to voluntary participate through written consent before completing the surveys.
Consent for publication
The publication has been approved by all co-authors.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Highlights
• This study examined the school correlates of student psychological ill-being.
• At least one out of five students experience need frustration.
• Need frustration and student poverty were connected.
• Faculty and peer conditions were associated with student need frustration.
• Implications and future directions for need frustration research are discussed.
Appendices
Appendix 1
Psychological Need Frustration (NF) | This scale measures the extent to which students’ feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are repressed within the school environment. All need frustration items were rated on a Likert Scale of 1 to 4 as follows: 1 = Rarely, 2 = Sometimes, 3 = Often, 4 = Very often. The scale has also been used in multiple studies and demonstrated good construct and predictive validity. A test of reliability produced a Cronbach alpha value of .84, demonstrating strong internal consistency and reliability. | |
|---|---|---|
Faculty Relational Conditions | Faculty Trust in Students | Measures the quality of engagement between faculty and students. Questions from this scale ask faculty about their view of the openness, honesty, reliability, competence, and benevolence of students. The measure contains three subscales with reliabilities ranging from .90 to .98. Factor analytic studies of the Omnibus T-Scale support the construct and discriminant validity of the concept (Forsyth et al., 2011; Tschannen-Moran et al., 2014). |
Faculty Trust in Parents | Measures the quality of engagement between faculty and the parents of their students. Questions from this scale ask faculty about their view of the openness, honesty, reliability, competence, and benevolence of the parents of their students. The measure contains three subscales with reliabilities ranging from .90 to .98. Factor analytic studies of the Omnibus T-Scale support the construct and discriminant validity of the concept (Forsyth et al., 2011; Tschannen-Moran et al., 2014). | |
Teacher Support of Students Autonomy | Autonomy Support measures the degree to which students perceive that teachers provide choice, encourage independence, and support individual preference. Using Cronbach’s alpha test of reliability, a value of .77 with factor loadings ranging from .55 to .83 showed internal consistency among items. Items were derived from the Autonomy-Enhancement Scale (Assor, Kaplan, & Roth, 2002). | |
Teacher Support of Students Competence | Competence Support measures students’ perception of their teachers’ support to help them attain higher levels of aptitude and achievement. High levels indicate that most teachers support and encourage students toward growth and achievement. Reliability, as measured by the Cronbach alpha, ranged from .79 to .93 suggesting strong internal consistency among the items. The survey was adapted from the Consortium on Chicago School Research available at http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/content/index.php (OCEP, 2017). | |
Teacher Perception of Student Readiness to Learn | Measures teacher perception of the readiness of their students to learn in the classroom (OCEP, 2017). | |
Peer Relational Conditions | Student Engagement | Engagement of students was measured using the communication scale which assesses student perceptions of their own ability to remain tuned in to conversations, to listen with intent, and sustain inquiry while relating with others. Data were gathered using the Interaction Involvement Scale (Cegala, 1981). Responses to items fall within acceptable range of internal consistency. Factor analysis revealed a single eigenvalue over one. Cronbach’s alpha was .84, indicating strong internal consistency. |
Peer Academic Emphasis | Peer Academic Emphasis refers to the extent to which a student’s associative peer group demonstrates drive, or the lack thereof, toward academic excellence. The measure includes three sub-domains that include (1) Peer Academic Aspiration, (2) Peer Resistance to School Norms, and (3) Peer Academic Support. All factor solutions were established in a pilot study on an independent sample by Murdock (1994) and reconfirmed in Murdock (1999). Factor solutions for each of the scales were accepted provided they were conceptually consistent and had a sufficient number of uniquely loading items. Original Cronbach alphas (internal consistency) for the three subscales were .74, .73, and .70, respectively. | |
Bullying | Bullying measures both explicit and non-explicit types of peer oppression. Student responses represent the extent to which they observe other students being victimized. Four forms of bullying considered include: teasing, rumor spreading, exclusion, and threats of, or actual, physical harm. Reliability was explored through test-retest procedures, and good agreement over time was stable (Bond, Butler, et al., 2007a). | |
Perception of Safety | Safety measures the students’ sense of security in their classrooms, hallways, restrooms, and when commuting to and from school. High levels represent high sense of security in all these areas. Reliability, as measured by Cronbach’s alpha, ranged from .92 to .99 for the Safety Scale, suggesting strong internal consistency. The survey was adapted from the Consortium on Chicago School research and can be found at http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/content/index.php. | |
Student Trust in Students | Student Trust in Students measures the engagement between students, which includes the reliability of their peers, peers concern for other students, peer competence in learning, peer willingness to help, peer honesty, and peer openness. Higher student trust suggests that students perceive their peers as being open, honest, reliable, competent, and benevolent in their social interactions, and encourages students to build strong, lasting relationships with one another. Reliability, as measured by the Cronbach alpha, was .90 suggesting strong internal consistency among the items (Forsyth et al., 2011; Tschannen-Moran, 2014). | |
Appendix 2
Full correlation table for study variables—research question 2
M (SD) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Need Frustration | .00 (1.00) | - | −.42** | −.31** | .61** | −.45** | −.38** | −.35** | −.49** | −.00 | −.05 | −.56** |
Engagement | 2.92 (.15) | - | .46** | −.49** | .48** | .39** | .34** | .38** | .18 | .22 | .45** | |
Peer Academic Emphasis | 2.96 (.16) | - | -.44** | .51** | .52** | .32** | .37** | .39** | .36** | .44** | ||
Bullying | 2.12 (.35) | - | −.75** | −.79** | −.45** | −.49** | −.42** | −.49** | −.54** | |||
Safety | 3.22 (.23) | - | .75** | .41** | .43** | .59** | .64** | .48** | ||||
Student Trust in Students | 2.66 (.29) | - | .45** | .42** | .71** | .75** | .48** | |||||
Faculty Trust in Students | 4.04 (.54) | - | .89** | .39** | .34** | .85** | ||||||
Faculty Trust in Parents | 3.59 (.71) | - | .23 | .23 | .89** | |||||||
Competence Support | 3.21 (.29) | - | .91** | .26** | ||||||||
Autonomy Support | 2.98 (.25) | - | .22** | |||||||||
Student Readiness to Learn | 3.17 (.86) | - |
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adigun, O.B., Adams, C.M. An Exploration of School-Related Social Correlates of Student Psychological Ill-Being. Contemp School Psychol 27, 29–41 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-021-00384-3
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-021-00384-3