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Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment (2024) 46:916–924
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-024-10151-2
Introduction
The World Health Organization has advocated for a coor-
dinated approach across sectors to improve adolescent
mental health and well-being, stressing that education is
vital among all the sectors that play a substantial role in
adolescent health (Dick & Ferguson, 2015). It is because
adolescents spend a signicant amount of time in school,
making it an ideal setting for reaching out to young people
and providing prevention, intervention, and care (Aldridge
& McChesney, 2018; Dick & Ferguson, 2015). Moreover,
school climate can be intentionally manipulated and adapted
to aect health-related variables, which can even counteract
the adverse impact on their development of other risk fac-
tors such as impoverishment or deprivation (Aldridge &
McChesney, 2018).
Dongyan Ding, Mengdie Pan and Qi Tang are the co-rst authors,
they have contributed equally to this work.
Dongyan Ding
ddy0558@126.com
Mengdie Pan
330310117@qq.com
Qi Tang
77056577@qq.com
Jing Zhang
1176604661@qq.com
1 School of Mental Health, Bengbu Medical University,
Bengbu, China
2 School of Health Management, Bengbu Medical University,
Bengbu, China
Abstract
Previous research found the eect of school climate on students’ psychological distress. No longitudinal studies examined
the eect of school climate on college students’ psychological exibility and the possible mediating role of psychologi-
cal exibility between school climate and psychological distress. These were the primary purpose of the present study.
Medical college students were recruited starting in September 2020; assessments were conducted at ve points, with
intervals of two months between each assessment. Self-reported questionnaires were completed by 210 college students
(33.3% male and 66.7% female), with an average age of 20.62. The Perceived School Climate scale, Acceptance and
Action Questionnaire-II, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) were used to assess participants’ perceived
school climate, psychological exibility, and mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) respectively. The temporal
directional relationship between study variables was analyzed using the random intercept cross-lagged panel model. There
was a unidirectional positive eect from perceived school climate to psychological exibility, and a unidirectional negative
eect from perceived school climate to anxiety and depression. There was no directional eect between psychological
exibility and mental health at the within-person level, but at the between-person level, they were strongly associated. Fur-
thermore, psychological exibility did not mediate the relationship between perceived school climate and mental health.
This study supported the bio-ecological theory and highlighted the importance of fostering a positive school climate to
improve college students’ psychological exibility and decrease their depression and anxiety.
Keywords School climate · Psychological exibility · Mental health · Longitudinal study · College students · Bio-
ecological theory
Accepted: 5 July 2024 / Published online: 26 August 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024
Longitudinal Association Between School Climate and Psychological
Flexibility and Mental Health: A Random Intercept Cross Lagged Panel
Model
DongyanDing1· MengdiePan1· QiTang2· JingZhang1
1 3
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