Relationship between school connectedness and psychological well-being in adolescents: a meta-analysis

School is an important setting for adolescents to develop connectedness to peers, teachers and school, and this connection has the potential to play a protective role in promoting and enhancing their psychological well-being. The meta-analytic study described here used a random-effect model to examine previous studies that explored school connectedness in relation to psychological well-being in adolescents. Subgroup analyses and multiple meta-regression analyses were conducted to explore the potential moderators of any relationship between school connectedness and psychological well-being. The variables were gender, age, culture, and four dimensions of school connectedness. Results support a view that in this adolescent age group stronger school connectedness is associated with higher levels of psychological well-being. Gender was not found to be a moderator of the association, but moderation was evident from age and from a cultural tendency towards individualism or collectivism. Subgroup analyses found different effect sizes for the association between each dimension of school connectedness and psychological well-being. Findings strengthen the view that secondary schools should make effort to foster and encourage adolescents’ school connectedness. Most importantly, findings emphasize the value of the four key dimensions of the connectedness construct and offer important implications for future research and practice.