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Everyday Environments and Quality of Life: Positive School and Neighborhood Environments Influence the Health and Well-Being of Adolescents

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Handbook of Environmental Psychology and Quality of Life Research

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life ((IHQL))

Abstract

The influence of everyday environments on human emotion, cognition and behavior has been extensively examined. In particular, the protective and risky attributes of everyday environments impact both objective and subjective aspects of the quality of our lives. Two important everyday environments influencing the quality of life of adolescents are the schools they attend and the neighborhoods they live in. This chapter provides a selective review of the literature examining how school and neighborhood environments impact the health and well-being of adolescents. Published findings from studies using multilevel and strengths-based approaches are reviewed, and discussion centers on the findings from the Youth2000 Survey Series conducted in New Zealand as a case study. Reviewed multilevel results show that school-level variables related to economic environments (e.g., funding) and interpersonal environments (e.g., positive social climate) influence a number of student-level outcomes, including being bullied, bullying others, risk-taking behaviors and depressive symptoms. Likewise, neighborhood-level variables related to interpersonal environments (e.g., social cohesion, membership of community organizations) influence student-level outcomes, including engagement in physical activity and well-being. Measured objective physical environments (e.g., school size) have smaller associations with the student-level outcomes reviewed. We highlight that multilevel models should be used more often in environmental psychology research, particularly those studies interested in quality of life.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all researchers, staff and funding agencies involved in the running of the Youth2000 Survey Series. Special thanks go to all the students and school staff who participated in the surveys. Without their work and help this project would not have been possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Taciano L. Milfont

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Child and Youth Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Simon J. Denny

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  1. Taciano L. Milfont
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Correspondence to Taciano L. Milfont .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology, University of Nantes, Nantes, France

    Ghozlane Fleury-Bahi

  2. Department of Social Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Enric Pol

  3. Faculty of Psychology, University of Nantes, Nantes, France

    Oscar Navarro

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Milfont, T.L., Denny, S.J. (2017). Everyday Environments and Quality of Life: Positive School and Neighborhood Environments Influence the Health and Well-Being of Adolescents. In: Fleury-Bahi, G., Pol, E., Navarro, O. (eds) Handbook of Environmental Psychology and Quality of Life Research. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31416-7_20

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