EFFECTS OF RACE, POVERTY, AND STUDENT-TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS ON CALIFORNIAN ADOLESCENTS RECEIVING PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP
Open Access
- Author:
- Schriver, Emily
- Area of Honors:
- Human Development and Family Studies
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Sunhye Bai, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Lesley Anne Ross, PhD, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Student-Teacher Relationship
Mental Health
Race
Poverty
Adolescents - Abstract:
- Objective: Student-teacher relationships are an important factor in student success inside the classroom, as well as outside the classroom. Many adolescents today are facing mental health disorders, some of which are caused by social factors in the school setting. This study examines whether or not the quality of a student-teacher relationship plays a role in said student’s likelihood of receiving psychological or emotional help. Methods: Participants were drawn from adolescents who completed the California Health Interview Survey in 2012, which aimed to determine the health status of California residents, and included 268 students who identified themselves as having feelings of distress in the past 12 months. Results: Multiple regression analysis conducted on this sample found that there was no significant association between the quality of a student-teacher relationship and a student receiving psychological or emotional help within the past 12 months, in males or females. However, both race and poverty affected student reports of their relationship with teachers, and their likelihood of receiving psychological help. Students who identified as Latino and those within the lowest socioeconomic strata reported lower quality relationships with their teachers, as well as lower rates of receiving psychological help. Discussion: Latino students, and students from households making below the federal poverty line were least likely to be engaged with teachers or receive psychological services. Future research should look further into poverty and race, and examine why these students are least likely to receive help in order to best protect and assist in students’ mental health issues.