Individual and School Environment Predictors of Mental Health and Wellbeing Across the Primary-to-Secondary School Transition

Abstract

Transition from primary to secondary school is an important life event for young people that may have impacts on mental health. Objective and subjective measures of the school environment may be associated with mental health outcomes post-transition. Pre-transition (year 6, aged 10–11) survey data from young people in Wales, UK, were linked to post-transition (year 7, aged 11–12) survey data (n = 506) and combined with an objective value-added measure of school meaningfulness created from administrative data. Multi-level models were run, adjusting for pre-transition mental health difficulties, to investigate the relationship between individual and school-level variables, including self-reported perceptions of school connectedness and school meaningfulness, and mental health difficulties and mental wellbeing outcomes post-transition. Pre-transition mental health difficulties were consistently significantly associated with post-transition mental health difficulties. Higher family affluence was significantly associated with higher mental wellbeing and lower difficulties. School connectedness items also showed evidence of significant association with mental health difficulties and wellbeing outcomes post-transition. School meaningfulness was only significantly associated with post-transition mental wellbeing. Individual- and school-level factors offer opportunities for targeting interventions to support young people’s mental health and wellbeing across the school transition period.