School connectedness and suicidal thoughts and behaviors: A systematic meta-analysis.

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Psychology
• Public Health
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• School connectedness is a key protective factor against adolescent suicidal ideation and behaviors.
• Existing research shows an association, but measurement inconsistencies limit synthesis.
• Schools are ideal settings for widespread youth intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To meta-analytically investigate the association between school connectedness and suicidal thoughts/behaviors.
• To examine this association in general and specific adolescent subpopulations (high-risk, sexual minority).
• To explore the impact of measurement variations on the findings.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on school connectedness and adolescent suicide.
• Inclusion criteria: studies measuring "school connectedness" or "connections at school" in relation to suicidal ideation/attempts in Grades 6-12.
• Random effects model and multiple metaregression analyses were employed.

Main Results:

• Higher school connectedness significantly reduced reports of suicidal thoughts and behaviors across all groups.
• Odds ratios (OR) indicated protective effects: general (OR=0.536), high-risk (OR=0.603), sexual minority (OR=0.608).
• Results were consistent for suicidal ideation (OR=0.529) and suicide attempts (OR=0.589), and robust to measurement variability.

Conclusions:

• Findings strongly support increasing school connectedness as a strategy to reduce adolescent suicide risk.
• Results have significant implications for school-based screening and intervention programs.
• While cross-sectional, the study highlights the importance of fostering supportive school environments.