The school context is extremely important during adolescence, as adolescents spend a significant amount of the day in school. School achievement is a significant variable that is predicted by both individual and school determinants and which plays an important role in positive youth development, given its protective effects on the development of behavioral problems.
The aim of this study was to examine whether gender, academic buoyancy, perceived school climate and problematic use of social networks predict students' school achievement.
In the study that was conducted by SurveyMonkey online platform, a total of 3170 students (55.02% girls) with an average age of 15.10 years (SD = .38) participated. The used measures were school achievement in the previous school year, Academic Buoyancy Scale, Croatian School Climate Questionnaire and Compulsive Social Networks Use Scale.
The results of the binary logistic regression analysis showed that gender, academic buoyancy, perception of school climate and problematic use of social networks are significant predictors of excellent school success. Girls, students who report lower levels of academic buoyancy, more positive perception of the school climate, as well as those students who report lower levels of problematic use of social networks are more likely to have excellent school success.
The findings suggest a predictive contribution of individual and school determinants in explaining students’ school achievement. During the presentation, the opportunities for empowering students, with a special emphasis on the use of social networks, will be discussed. Also, the possibilities for preventative interventions will be discussed in terms of guidelines for improving school climate, coping with academic stress and the implementation of media literacy. The research was part of the establishment research project "Testing the 5C framework of positive youth development: traditional and digital mobile assessment (P.R.O.T.E.C.T.)”, UIP - 2020 - 02 - 2852" funded by the Croatian Science Foundation.
Hana Gačal
Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb
Croatia
Hana Gačal is a PhD student in the postgraduate doctoral study of Prevention Science at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Zagreb and is currently employed on the project Testing the 5C framework of positive youth development: traditional and digital mobile assessment. After she received her Master’s degree in Psychology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Rijeka, she has worked as a teaching assistant in the field of biological psychology, as well as methodology and statistics at the Department of Psychology. She was also an external associate on the project PROMEHS – Promoting Mental Health at Schools, which is aimed at increasing socio-emotional wellbeing and resilience and preventing internalized and externalized behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Her former scientific interest was focused on personality traits, emotions, and mental health.
Josipa Mihić
Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb
Croatia
Josipa Mihić, is an associate professor and head of the Department of Behavioral Disorders at the study programme of Social Pedagogy at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb. She teaches at the study of social pedagogy and the doctoral study of Prevention Science and is a member of the Laboratory for Preventive Research (PrevLab). Within the Laboratory, she studies risk behaviors, the development of emotional and social competencies in children and youth in the school environment, the effect of mindfulness /meditative practice on positive development of individuals, and the role of compassion and self-compassion in preventing behavioral problems and mental health promotion. She also works as a psychotherapist at the Teaching and Clinical Center of the Faculty.
Miranda Novak
Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb
Croatia
Miranda Novak, Ph.D., is an associate professor working in the group of scientists gathered around the Laboratory for Prevention Research, Department of Behavioral Disorders, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb. Her main research interest is youth mental health promotion, mental health policy, prevention of internalized disorders, evidence-based program implementation, and usage of modern technology in mental health promotion. From 2021, she is leading an installation research study on the 5C approach to positive youth development funded by Croatian Science Foundation. Moreover, she coordinates a digital youth platform Pukotine.hr supported by UNICEF Office Croatia and other partners. She was a Fulbright Research Fellow at the University of Oregon, USA, in 2019.
Darko Roviš
Teaching Institute of Public Health, Primorsko-Goranska County, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka
Croatia
Darko Roviš, PhD is a head of Department for Promotion and Protection of Mental Health at the Teaching institute of public health in Rijeka, where he has been working since 2005. He has also been employed part-time at the Department of Social Medicine and Epidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rijeka since 2011, as well as at the Department of Public Health at the Faculty of Health Studies of the University of Rijeka since 2014. He participates in a number of courses in the field of social medicine, public health, health education, health promotion and disease prevention. He finds his research interest in the field of promotion of (mental) health and prevention of risky behaviors.
Gabrijela Vrdoljak
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Osijek
Croatia
Gabrijela Vrdoljak, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek. Her work is in the field of school and educational psychology, but lately she has growing interest in research and education on positive youth development, as well as socio-emotional learning. She is a member of the international team that studies positive youth development and develops programs in order to encourage it.
Toni Maglica
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split
Toni Maglica, PhD is a postdoc researcher at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Split. He has been working with children and youth with behavioral problems, as well as with their families for many years now. This is also the area of his scientific interests, therefore he studies and publishes scientific papers in the field of mental health and behavioral problems in childhood and adolescence, with special focus on family environment. Moreover, he is included in prevention of behavioral problems, especially in the context of socio-emotional learning.
Lucija Šutić
Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb
Croatia
Lucija Šutić is a Ph.D. student in the postgraduate doctoral study of Prevention Science at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Zagreb and is currently employed on the project Testing the 5C framework of positive youth development: traditional and digital mobile assessment. She has received her Master’s degree in Psychology from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb and was awarded the Rector’s award for scientific work as a student. Her former scientific interest was focused on romantic relationships in adolescence and early adulthood, as well as on the stigmatization of mental disorders. Currently, her research focus is on methodological aspects of intensive longitudinal studies and digital mobile assessments.
