**2. Relationships with peers**

During early adolescence, peer groups become increasingly important as young people start to seek autonomy from their parents [13, 14]. In this section, we particularly address school bullying as a critical peer-group phenomenon that often threatens academic and psychological well-being.

Bullying is typically defined as an aggressive peer-to-peer behavior involving a power differentiation between the perpetrator and the victim; this behavior is also enacted repeatedly over time with the intention to do harm [15]. Researchers and educators have increasingly acknowledged that bullying continues to be a serious problem in schools around the world, with evidence that involvement in bullying (as a victim or a bully) affects children and adolescents' health. For example, more than 40% Canadian students in grades 6–10 reported being both bullied and bullying others and this high prevalence remains [16].

Bullying takes several forms, including physical assault, ethnic discrimination, rumor victimization, sexual harassment, and verbal assault. Being a victim is not without consequence - indeed, victimization by peers is associated with a broad range of difficulties, both immediate and long term, in the areas of mental health, academic performance, and overall well-being [17]. The detrimental effects of bullying do not end with the victims, however. A recent study of students in grades 8 to 10 has reported that nearly 90% of the students had witnessed either their friends or other students being bullied at least a few times during the school year and that witnessing bullying was associated with higher levels of depression [18].

#### **2.1. Associations with academic achievement**

cycle [4, 5], it is important to understand the process through which students adapt to schools

Schools are challenging contexts for students, especially for youth, by nature and design. These challenges include the instructional features of classrooms and schools, such as didactic small- and large-group instruction, teacher-initiated/monitored learning activities, and programmatic curriculum sequences. At present, much is known about how students' cognitive and linguistic skills and their socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds function as precursors of their achievement and adjustment. Less well recognized are the many types of interpersonal challenges that youth confront in school. Beyond basic tasks such as relating with classmates and schoolmates and forming ties with teachers, youth find that they are under increasing pressure to compare and evaluate themselves, their abilities, and their achievements to those of peers. Many of these challenges are repeated as students progress through grades. In each new classroom, they must negotiate their needs in dyadic and group settings and reestablish relationships with classmates and teachers. Moreover, it is likely that these challenges are

intensified when students change schools or cope with school transitions [6, 7].

relationships in supporting school success and mental well-being.

student outcomes [12].

cal well-being.

better support these relationships.

**2. Relationships with peers**

In light of the above, an important task facing educational and developmental researchers is to investigate the roles of students' classroom/school interpersonal skills and relationships as precursors of school adaption and adjustment. Indeed, diverging from the traditional focus on the three Rs, including *r*eading, w*r*iting, and arithmetic [8], an emerging line of research points to the importance of the fourth *R* of education, *relationships*. In corroboration, the school-climate [9] and social-emotional learning (SEL) [10] literature highlights the role of

The recognition of SEL has been gradually spread around the world in recent years [10]. SEL refers to the process through which children and adults develop a set of skills and competencies to recognize and manage emotions, develop care and concern for others, make responsible decisions, establish positive relationships, and handle challenging situations effectively; these skills are promoted through both direct instructions and the establishment of a safe, caring, and supportive learning environment in which all students feel valued, respected, and connected [11]. Its importance is evidenced through its relationships with various positive

To illustrate the importance to consider which aspects of students' school adjustment are affected by interpersonal factors, this chapter will first address how interpersonal relationships, including relationships with peers, teachers, and family, contribute to school success and mental health among youth. We will end the chapter with a discussion about how we can

During early adolescence, peer groups become increasingly important as young people start to seek autonomy from their parents [13, 14]. In this section, we particularly address school bullying as a critical peer-group phenomenon that often threatens academic and psychologi-

and identify different ways to support them.

104 Health and Academic Achievement

Academic achievements among youth are of great importance for prospective school and career choices. A growing body of research has demonstrated significant links between school bullying and academic achievement (e.g., see [19, 20]). Students who are bullied by peers are likely to demonstrate poor academic performance (e.g., see [19, 20]), as are children who bully others [21]. Together, this line of research is consistent with the arguments that children's social experiences at school affect their academic performance [11, 12]. A recent meta-analysis with 29,552 school students revealed significant negative correlation between peer victimization and academic achievement [22].

Few studies [20, 23] on bullying have investigated the influence of school-level factors on individual academic performance. Konishi et al. [20] conducted one of the few multilevel studies in this area and found that school-level bullying was associated with lower grades among 15-year-olds. This study has addressed the need to simultaneously investigate individual and contextual influences on students' academic achievement. There is also a link between bullying and high school dropout rates. Cornell and colleagues [24] have found that the prevalence of bullying as perceived by both ninth grade students and teachers was predictive of dropout rates for this cohort 4 years later.

#### **2.2. Associations with mental health**

Researchers have long demonstrated that being involved as both a victim and bully seems to compound the impact of bullying, with bully-victims experiencing worse outcomes than either bullies or victims and being at greater risk for various types of mental health problems. These include anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, self-harm, suicidality, physical injury, substance abuse, and delinquency [25–27]. A recent trajectory study [28] has further demonstrated that, as compared to low-involvement students and after controlling for initial psychopathology, stable victims showed greater levels of anxiety, depression, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; similarly, stable bullies reported higher levels of anxiety, and those who shifted from victimization to bullying reported more anxiety, depression, and somatization. These findings underscore the importance of considering a child's history of involvement in bullying over time and view bullying as a dynamic experience, influenced by the social ecology.

colleagues [45] found significant associations between student-teacher relationships and students' academic engagement and achievement spanning from preschool through high school. Longitudinal research [40, 46] has also shown the positive associations between high-quality student-teacher relationships and academic adjustment. Although both family and teacher support are important in predicting students' achievement, research has indicated that student-teacher connection was the factor most closely associated with growth in academic

Relationships and School Success: From a Social-Emotional Learning Perspective

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75012

107

Connectedness to school during adolescence has emerged as a key area for building protective factors for positive educational outcomes and lower rates of health-risk behaviors [47, 48]. Students who are not engaged with learning or who have poor relationships with teachers are more likely to use drugs and engage in socially disruptive and sexual risk behaviors, report anxiety/depressive symptoms, have poorer adult relationships, and fail to complete secondary school (e.g., see [49, 50]). Therefore, the potential consequences for the students to become disconnected from school are far reaching. Longitudinal research from the U. S. reveals that high school students reporting greater connectedness to teachers display lower rates of emotional distress, suicidal ideation, suicidal behavior, violence, substance abuse,

Teachers can also serve as a protective factor against negative developmental outcomes, especially for marginalized and minority youth (e.g., see [31, 52]). Indeed, since Werner and Smith's [53, 54] longitudinal study of over 30 years, the importance of having at least one significant adult as a means for fostering resiliency among children and youth identified as 'at risk' has become a well-documented phenomenon [55–57]. Previous research findings are in accordance with suggesting that this 'significant adult' needs not be a parent or relative. This may be especially true during adolescence when youth often seek nonparental mentors and role models. Many sexual minority youth fear or face rejection by their parents because of their sexual identity [58]. In support of this argument, a Canadian study, with populationbased data from high schools, has shown that supportive relationships with teachers significantly contributed to reducing greater risk for social-emotional problems not only for sexual minority youth experiencing peer victimization, but also for heterosexual youth who had been victimized by peers [31]. The results support the resilience perspective that a significant adult is not necessarily a parent or relative but can be an outside adult, including a teacher.

Beyond peer and teacher relationships, the fourth R can also be manifested when the family proactively engages in practices and activities that serve to promote learning and development [59]. Given that these practices and activities can take place within the home, and in partnerships with the school and the community [60, 61], such involvement is in line with the ecological framework [62] that highlights the interplay between two important systems (i.e.,

achievement from eighth to twelfth grade [39].

**3.2. Associations with mental health**

and early sexual activity [51].

**4. Family involvement**

the family and the school).

Given the growing efforts to reduce bullying, we would speculate that the prevalence of school bullying might be declining. However, this may not be the case, particularly for sexual minority students. Students who are stigmatized or marginalized due to ethnicity, sexual orientation, and mental and physical illness are often victims of bullying, and much of this harassment takes place in schools. A recent trend study on harassment among adolescents has shown that sexual minority students continued to report higher rates of victimization than exclusively heterosexual peers over time [29]. Victimized sexual minority youth were at greatest risk not only for mental health concerns [30–32].
