TY - JOUR A1 - Rathmann, Katharina A1 - Vockert, Theres A1 - Bilz, Ludwig A1 - Gebhardt, Markus A1 - Hurrelmann, Klaus T1 - Self-rated health and wellbeing among school-aged children with and without special educational needs: Differences between mainstream and special schools JF - Research in Developmental Disabilities N2 - BACKGROUND: Studies among students with special educational needs (SEN) in separate special schools (SSS) and mainstream schools (MS) are particularly applicable to educational attainment and social participation. However, indicators of health and wellbeing have rarely been considered. AIMS: This study investigates two related topics: first, health and wellbeing differences between students with SEN in special schools (SSS) and students without SEN in regular schools, and second, the rarely considered question whether health and wellbeing among students with SEN differ between school settings (i.e. MS vs. SSS). METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Bivariate and multilevel analyses are applied with data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) with 5267 students (grade 7). OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: After having controlled for background characteristics, students in SSS report higher likelihoods of poor self-rated health compared to students in higher track schools. Self-rated health of students with SEN does not significantly differ between MS vs. SSS. For life satisfaction, students with SEN show higher likelihoods of low life satisfaction when attending MS. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Teachers in inclusive settings are encouraged to establish class work and teaching that support a real change from class placement to inclusive culture in order to suitably support students with SEN. KW - Inclusion; Life satisfaction; Multilevel modeling; NEPS; Self-rated health; Special educational needs Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2018.04.021 VL - 81 SP - 134 EP - 142 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rathmann, Katharina A1 - Bilz, Ludwig A1 - Hurrelmann, Klaus A1 - Kiess, Wieland A1 - Richter, Matthias T1 - Is being a "small fish in a big pond" bad for students' psychosomatic health? A multilevel study on the role of class-level school performance? JF - BMC Public Health N2 - Background Features of schools and classes are closely related to students´ health and wellbeing. However, class composition (e.g. in terms of school performance) has rarely been examined in relation to students´ health and wellbeing. This study focuses on the so called Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect (BFLPE), by investigating whether the level of high-performing students in classroom is negatively associated with psychosomatic complaints of students who perceive themselves as poor performers. Methods Data were derived from the German sample of the WHO-Collaborative “Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC)” study 2013/2014. The sample included 5226 11-, 13- and 15-year-old students. Individual perceived school performance (PSP) was included (very good/good vs. average/below average PSP) at the individual student-level. At the class-level, school performance in class was generated by aggregating the share (in percentage) of students who report a very good/good PSP to the class-level, indicating the percentage of students with good/very good PSP in classroom. Using multilevel regression models, the association between class-level school performance (in percentage of students with very good/good PSP) and individual psychosomatic complaints were analyzed, stratified by students´ individual PSP. Results Students who report average/below average PSP showed higher likelihoods of psychosomatic complaints (Odds Ratio: 1.75; 95% Confidence Interval: 1.52–2.03) compared to counterparts with very good/good PSP. The aggregated class-level PSP was not significantly associated with psychosomatic complaints. However, in line with the BFLPE, results further revealed that students with average/below average PSP, who attend classes with a higher percentage of students who report very good/good PSP, had higher likelihoods of psychosomatic complaints (Odds Ratio: 1.91; 95% Confidence Interval: 1.01–4.01) compared to classmates with very good/good PSP. Conclusions This study revealed that class composition in terms of PSP was differentially associated with students´ psychosomatic complaints, depending on their individual PSP. Findings highlight the vulnerability of students with poor PSP placed in classes with a higher percentage of students with good PSP. Results of this study therefore indicate a need for initiatives for low performing students from teachers and school staff in class. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5977-5 VL - 18 IS - 1 SP - 1098 EP - 1113 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rathmann, Katharina A1 - Herke, Max A1 - Bilz, Ludwig A1 - Rimpelä, Arja A1 - Hurrelmann, Klaus A1 - Richter, Matthias T1 - Class-Level School Performance and Life Satisfaction: Differential Sensitivity for Low- and High-Performing School-Aged Children JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health N2 - This study investigates whether class-level school performance affects students’ life satisfaction and if there are differential effects for high- and low-performing students. Data were derived from the National Educational Panel Study, including n = 5196 students (49.6% girls), nested in 478 classes and 250 secondary schools. School performance in class was measured by aggregating individual grade point average in Mathematics and German. The study could not reveal the “big-fish-little-pond”-effect regarding students’ life satisfaction but found differential effects for high- vs. low performing students. There was no significant association for low-performing students attending classes with higher class-level performance However, low-performing students revealed the lowest life satisfaction. High-performing students placed in classes with higher average performance reported lower life satisfaction compared to high-performing students in classes with lower average performance. This study provides evidence for the impact of the learning environment in class on school-aged children’s life satisfaction, by highlighting the differential sensitivity of high-performing students when placed in classes with higher or lower average performance. KW - school performance; social comparison; life satisfaction; “big-fish-little-pond”-effect; multilevel analysis; National Educational Panel Study; Germany Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122750 VL - 15 IS - 2 ER -