Despite the increasing recognition of its importance, a comprehensive understanding of how school belonging impacts long-term mental wellbeing has remained elusive.

New adolescent mental health study

Our new study investigating school belonging and mental health outcomes in adulthood aimed to address this gap in knowledge.

It planned to examine the enduring effects of school belonging on the mental health trajectory from adolescence into adulthood.

School belonging, as defined by Goodenow and Grady, refers to the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported in their school environment.

This concept encompasses students' positive feelings towards their school, the quality of their relationships with teachers, and their sense of social value among peers.

Shedding light on the long-term effects

While the immediate benefits of school belonging to mental health are well-documented, its long-term effects haven't been thoroughly explored.

Our recent study, conducted through a collaborative effort from Monash University, Deakin University, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, and the University of Melbourne, has shed light on this issue.

The research involved more than 1,500 young adults, drawing from one of Australia's longest-running population-based studies on socioemotional development.

It specifically examined how school belonging at the age of 15-16 influenced mental health outcomes at later life stages, specifically at ages 19-20, 23-24, and 27-28.

The findings of this study are revealing.

Higher levels of school belonging at the age of 15-16 were associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress in young adulthood.

This association underscores the significance of adolescent school belonging as a protective factor against future mental health issues.

The implications of these results are profound.

They highlight the need for sustained interventions and programmes that not only address school belonging.

They would also extend their influence beyond the educational setting to foster positive engagement in various life domains during the transition to adulthood.

The timing of these findings is critical, given the increasing emphasis on belonging as a key educational trend by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The OECD points to belonging as a means to counteract the rising trends of loneliness, social isolation, and mental health problems in many societies.

Lasting impact on wellbeing

The long-term follow-up of individuals in the Australian Temperament Project, which underpinned this study, provides a unique and significant contribution to the evidence base.

It shows how experiences of school belonging have lasting effects on young adults' wellbeing.

The research also highlights the importance of school belonging as an intervention target for lasting impacts on mental health.

As schools and communities navigate the challenges faced by today's youth, initiatives that enhance students' sense of acceptance and respect within the school environment are paramount.

These initiatives not only contribute to immediate mental health benefits but also lay the foundation for ongoing positive mental health into adulthood.

Further, the study reinforces the notion that schools are pivotal environments for mental health prevention and promotion.

As places where young people spend a significant amount of their time, schools have the opportunity to create environments that promote a sense of belonging and, in turn, support mental health.

This approach is especially crucial for vulnerable young people who may not have supportive conditions elsewhere.

Taking preventative measures

In light of these findings, it's clear that to prevent mental health issues in adulthood, efforts must start early, particularly in school settings.

Promoting school belonging and student wellbeing can act as a preventative measure against various vulnerabilities, including adverse home conditions.

This underscores the role of educational institutions not just as places of academic learning but as critical settings for fostering mental wellbeing.

The study was conducted by Monash University, Deakin University, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, and the University of Melbourne.

It represents a significant step forward in understanding the complex relationship between school belonging and long-term mental health.

It provides valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and mental health professionals, emphasising the need for integrated approaches that address the multifaceted aspects of school belonging.

The impact of school belonging on long-term mental health wellbeing is a crucial area of research that warrants further attention.

As the evidence base grows, it becomes increasingly clear that initiatives aimed at enhancing school belonging can have far-reaching effects on the mental health of young people.

The challenge now is to translate these findings into practical strategies and interventions that can be implemented across educational settings to foster environments where all students feel valued, supported, and included.

• First published in Lens. Republished with Monash University's permission
• Kelly-Anne Allen is an Associate Professor, School of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Education at Monash University

The notion of ‘Agency' is one that originated in sociology but it refers to something that most adults have felt at one time or another.

Agency is the sense that I can do something about a problem, that I can make a difference, that I have some control over the situation in which I find myself.

Agency is the exact opposite of feeling like a bit of wood floating on the sea, buffeted by waves, and drawn along by the currents. We so like to feel we have a rudder, a steering wheel, a chance to decide what will happen.

We rarely feel we have any sense of ‘agency.'

We only become aware of it when we do not have it: when we have a sense of a lack of agency.

This can be quite frightening.

It is the feeling that there is nothing I can do to change the situation that is bearing down on me.

It is the loneliness of realising that no one will listen to me.

The problems just go round in circles and are ignored.

Nobody cares!

Opting out

We see this sense of ‘I have no agency' in societies, social networks, clubs, businesses … and also in churches.

A sense of a lack of agency can be quite dangerous, both to us as individuals and to society, because we can feel that we are irrelevant.

People who sense a lack of agency usually just opt-out.

A metaphor of lack of agency. We dislike situations where we have a sense that can make a difference. We describe them with phrases such as being ‘in a vice' or ‘being ground down.'

But opting out of the church is not simply ‘lapsing' - that is seeing the world from the clerical perspective.

Opting out often means giving up on our individual mission and calling - it means no longer seeing and acting in union with Christ as part of our lives.

Acknowledging the problem

One of the rarely noticed difficulties felt by many Catholics is the sense that they have no agency when it comes to matters related to the church.

They often feel that if they try to make their views heard, they are simply ignored.

It might be to point out to a bishop that the presbyter appointed is unsuited to the situation - and the reply: you are lucky to have one! It might relate to larger issues, but again they have a sense that no matter what ‘they' think or say, it will make no difference.

The sense ‘it will make no difference' is the experience of ‘loss of agency.'

It leads directly to indifference and then to a gradual unannounced departure.

But, many bishops reply, I have never heard such a complaint!

The reason is simple: those who have a sense of loss of agency do not waste their breath any longer in telling those who will not listen that they are not being listened to!

Curiously, we have recently had a demonstration that this is a problem in the Roman Catholic Church from no less a voice than that of Pope Francis when he told women religious not to be silent in servitude.

Francis is acknowledging that many sisters acutely feel a loss of agency and that they need to make their voices heard.

But the problem remains: we can make our voices audible, but we cannot make them heard.

We have, moreover, a backlog of problems that need to be aired in each church, but many of the voices have given up.

We may speak of evangelisation and speaking the good news, but what of those who have heard it and have departed - because those who are to lead the evangelisers could not be bothered to listen?

Agency and belonging

The coming synod is being looked to with hope from groups of Catholics around the world that it will give them a chance to make their concerns heard.

We could reframe this hope thus: they are looking to the synod as a moment when they will have a sense of agency.

One of the challenges facing a synodal church will be to give the baptised a sense of agency as Catholics.

With a sense of agency goes a sense of belonging - I am a real part of something ‘bigger than me.'

Agency is a key to adult faith as a member of the Body of Christ.

This manifests itself in a sense that ‘I am wanted here' - not because someone wants to recruit me or convert me or get me to consume something - but because I am listened to and seen as having insight.

Exclusion

Many in the Catholic Church do not worry that people do not have a sense of agency or that they might feel ‘second class members.'

To them, this is not an important matter!

A metaphor of agency. We like the sense that we have choices and can exercise our choices. Even simple choices (shoes or sandals - which to ware?) involve our sense of agency - but we only notice it when it is absent!

But to those who think that a sense of agency does not matter, please note what you probably already know: that if you want to exclude someone, the best way to do it is just to keep passing over them!

This is a nasty little trick that many who are involved in running organisations have learned and practice: it is the simplest means of dealing who someone who is seen as ‘awkward'.

But turn that logic around.

Anyone who feels that they have no agency, already feels passed over. They believe they are already excluded!

Vocation and the sense of agency

But the vocation of each Christian is to act as a light among the nations, and this requires every other Christian to enhance each other's sense of agency as a member of the People of God. If a sense of agency is diminished - or extinguished causing them ‘to opt out' - then that constitutes a failure of the Church in its ministry.

Empowering a sense of agency, enhancing a sense of agency, must be part of any agenda to create a synodal church.

• Thomas O'Loughlin is a presbyter of the Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and professor-emeritus of historical theology at the University of Nottingham (UK). His latest book is Discipleship and Society in the Early Churches.