The Relationship of School Connectedness to Adolescents' Engagement in Co-Occurring Health Risks: A Meta-Analytic Review.

This article presents a meta-analysis examining the relationship between school connectedness—defined as students' perceptions of caring and supportive relationships with adults and peers in their school—and four adolescent health risk domains: mental health, sexual health, violence, and high-risk substance use. Analyzing 90 U.S.-based peer-reviewed studies published from 2009 to 2019, the study found that school connectedness has a statistically significant protective effect across all domains, with the strongest effects on substance use and mental health, and a smaller yet significant effect on sexual health risks. The protective relationship was evident across diverse student populations, including students of color and sexual/gender minority youth, and was most pronounced during middle and high school stages. The findings suggest that fostering school connectedness may be a valuable strategy for school nurses and public health professionals aiming to reduce multiple co-occurring health risks among adolescents.