School social climate and individual differences in vulnerability to psychopathology among middle school students

Abstract

The present study used a person-environment-fit framework to examine the inter- action of psychological vulnerabilities and perceptions of school climate to explain the emergence of behavioral and emotional problems during the middle school years. Cross-sectional and 1-year longitudinal analyses were conducted using data from 230 female and 230 male sixth- and seventh-grade students (50% non-Hispanic white, 27% Hispanic, 22% African American, and 3% other) attending a large ethnically and socioeconomically diverse middle school. Positive perceptions of school climate moderated the negative effects of self-criticism on both internalizing and externalizing problems and of a lack of efficacy on internalizing problems. Youth with high levels of self-criticism did not show expected increases in internalizing and externalizing problems when they perceived a positive school climate. Results were consistent with the idea that careful attention needs to be given to the social-emotional environment of middle schools, particularly for young adolescents preoccupied with issues of self-definition. © 2001 Society for the Study of School Psychology.