The Relationship Among School Safety, School Liking, and Students' Self-Esteem: Based on a Multilevel Mediation Model

J Sch Health. 2016 Mar;86(3):164-72. doi: 10.1111/josh.12364.

Abstract

Background: Perceptions of school safety have an important effect on students' development. Based on the model of "context-process-outcomes," we examined school safety as a context variable to explore how school safety at the school level affected students' self-esteem.

Methods: We used hierarchical linear modeling to examine the link between school safety at the school level and students' self-esteem, including school liking as a mediator. The data were from the National Children's Study of China (NCSC), in which 6618 fourth- to fifth-grade students in 79 schools were recruited from 100 counties in 31 provinces in China.

Results: Multilevel mediation analyses showed that the positive relationship between school safety at the school level and self-esteem was partially mediated by school liking, controlling for demographics at both student and school levels. Furthermore, a sex difference existed in the multilevel mediation model. For boys, school liking fully mediated the relationship between school safety at the school level and self-esteem. However, school liking partially mediated the relationship between school safety at the school level and self-esteem among girls.

Conclusion: School safety should receive increasing attention from policymakers because of its impact on students' self-esteem.

Keywords: multilevel mediation model; school liking; school safety; self-esteem.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • China
  • Emotions
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Male
  • Models, Psychological
  • Safety / standards*
  • Schools / organization & administration*
  • Schools / standards
  • Self Concept*
  • Sex Factors
  • Social Support
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Students / psychology*