Schools, learning and mental health: a study of school-level factors and processes

This project explored the link between mental health, physical activity (PA) and learning among young people. The project was innovative as it brought together learning and health within schools. Twelve lower secondary schools (grades 8-10; 13?16-year-olds) were recruited to the study from Innlandet (5) and Vestland Fylke (7). Three inter-related studies explored different aspects of young people?s lives within schools. Study 1 explored the connection between young people's mental health, PA and academic achievement. Young people in grade 8 were surveyed using an online questionnaire to collect data on their views about school, relationships with family, friends and teachers as well as what they did in leisure time. Mental health was measured as mental health problems (MHP) and mental wellbeing (MW). PA was objectively measured using accelerometers. The survey and accelerometer study were repeated on the same young people in grades 9 and 10. Data collection took place during September-December 2016, 2017 and 2018. The young people?s January test grades each year were integrated into the study to explore how academic achievement might be related to PA, MHP and MW and other school, family and individual factors. Key conclusions from the study included a recognition that there was no clear relationship between PA and MHP among this healthy population. There was some evidence that PA was related to MW and some aspects of self-esteem. PA was unrelated to academic achievement. The PhD thesis was submitted in June 2021. Study 2 focused on how Physical Education (PE: curriculum subject) was experienced by young people in order to understand how it might shape their mental health. During 2017, young people in grade 10 (15?16-year-olds) were recruited from a selection of eight of the twelve original schools. Overall, 31 focus groups involving 148 young people (68 girls and 80 boys) were carried out to explore their lives in general as well as their experiences of PE and physical activity within school. Analysis focused on understanding how young people negotiated sporting cultures alongside wider youth cultures as well as how practices within PE were experienced. Overall, the study concluded that while PE was seen as a much-needed break from ?normal? lessons, social interactions, grading processes and activities could have consequences for some of the building blocks of mental health, such as self-identity, self-esteem and self-worth. The PhD thesis was successfully defended in December 2019. Study 3 focused on how schools respond to young people experiencing mental health issues and support their learning. During 2016, teachers and headteachers were recruited from a selection of the original twelve schools. A range of qualitative approaches (observation, interviews, focus groups) were used to understand how teachers and head teachers through their everyday practices respond to young people who struggle with mental health issues. The study also explored how professionals in extended services worked with schools in supporting pupils? mental health. Seven focus groups with young people in grade 9 from a selection of schools were also carried out to provide their perspectives on teachers? support for their mental health and learning. Key findings from the study included a recognition that pupils, teachers and headteachers perceived support for learning as a form of support for mental health and wellbeing. The PhD was successfully defended in March 2018. A key aim was to disseminate findings from the three studies to all stakeholder groups as a way of bringing the research close to everyday practice in schools. A website (Norwegian and English versions) was developed (www.swellforskning.no) to raise the profile of the project and act as a tool for dissemination. Feedback to schools on findings from the project began in September 2018 and is ongoing but has been interrupted by the COVID pandemic. The project is profiled on Research Gate (https://www.researchgate.net/project/Schools-learning-and-mental-health-a-study-of-school-level-factors-and-processes). The Schools, Learning and Mental Health project?s work continues under the umbrella of the Faculty?s Critical Public Health Research Group. Three priorities have been identified. Study 1 continues its work on the large quantitative dataset developed during the three-year longitudinal study, with further articles therefrom. This work is supported through our ongoing collaboration with colleagues at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. A new work package with a PhD student (internally funded) was developed in 2019, which involves following a sample of the original cohort of young people through to upper secondary school and examining their changing leisure lives. This work is supported through our ongoing collaboration with the University of Chester (UK). Disseminating the work of the project to all stakeholders will continue through a variety of channels

All three work packages were delivered according to objectives and plan. All three PhD stipendiats have submitted their thesis, two having successfully defended it, and the third defence scheduled for December 2021. The project has led to increased interdisciplinary collaboration through a small network of national and international researchers who have a shared interest in young people's mental health, physical activity and academic achievement. The project's empirical work has led to the development of a large quantitative dataset that will be a source for further publications. A website has been developed (www.swellforskning.no) to assist dissemination. Publications and presentations at a local, national, and international level have also contributed to dissemination to diverse audiences. Results from the research can inform debates in the health and education sectors about young people's mental health, academic achievement and physical activity and the role of schools therein.

This project explores the relationship between mental health and academic achievement and the role of schools therein, all issues of considerable national and international importance. The project is innovative and distinctive in bridging the traditional gap between learning and health within school policy and practice. The project is anchored in Hedmark University College's (HUC) research strategy, which identifies "health promoting schools" as a key strategic priority for the Faculty of Public Health Sc iences. The proposed study will significantly strengthen HUC's scientific research network through collaboration with highly prestigious and leading edge national (University College and University of Bergen) and international partners (University of Karl stad, Sweden; Universities of Chester and Loughborough, England) in this field. Three inter-related work packages (WP) explore different aspects of school context and their mental health and educational consequences: WP1 explores "the whole school" in-dep th in relation to its policies and practices; WP2 focuses specifically on the influence of Physical Education as a curriculum subject and Physical Activity; WP3 seeks to understand school responses to young people's mental health and educational difficult ies, including how and when they involve other services and parents. A prospective cohort study will be carried out at lower secondary schools (grades 8-10; 13-15-year-olds). Three annual surveys will collect longitudinal data on a range of school- and in dividual-level variables designed to answer research questions in all WPs. A range of complementary qualitative approaches will be used to explore how key mental health and educational outcomes might be mediated in a school context. The study's practice-o riented focus and anchoring will generate evidence that has the potential to greatly increase the capacity for new solutions to entrenched problems in schools as well as society more broadly.