School Bonding and Adaptive Behaviour in Adolescents

Abstract

The paper examines the role of school experiences in
accounting for behavioural and subjective aspects of high-
-school student adjustment. The study data were collected on
a stratified random sample of students (N = 978) of both
genders and attending all 4 grades of high schools in the
Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Age and gender differences in
the level and structure of relationships among the selected
measures of school experiences, leisure-time variables, and
adaptation outcomes were examined. Higher levels of
students’ attachment and commitment to fulfilling school
obligations were detected among younger students and
females, while the exposure to alcohol and substance use
was expectedly found to be more common among higher-
-grade students. Multigroup structural equation analyses
confirmed significant direct relationships of latent measures
of school experiences with general satisfaction with life, and
indirect relationships of the same school experiences
variables with the regularity of substance use among
students. Somewhat different magnitudes of structural
parameters were observed between the samples defined by
gender, whereas age differences in the obtained pattern of
structural relationships were not supported by the empirical
data.