The Role of School Factors in Predicting School Maladjustment in Junior High School Students

Abstract

This study was performed to determine the role of school factors in predicting school maladjustment. The statistical population was all junior high schools of a large city in 2016-2017. The School Factors Questionnaire, School Maladjustment Scale (Amirbagloie-Daryani, Ganjii, & Sharifi, 2018), and the My Class Inventory (Fraser, Giddings, & McRobbie, 1995) were administered to a sample of 160 of these students selected by a cluster random sampling method. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated and a stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed. Classmate relationships, teacher-student relationships, and cohesion in the classes were negatively related to school maladjustment, and there was a significant positive relationship between friction in the classes and school maladjustment. The stepwise multiple regression showed that the predictor variables of the model explained 24 percent of the variance in school maladjustment, and that the variables of classmate relationships, teacher-student relationships, and friction in the class were the strongest factors that affected school maladjustment.