School environment as moderator in the relationship between school engagement, coping and resilience among South African adolescents

English: Adolescents are exposed to a variety of developmental and social challenges on a daily basis. Those who find it difficult to cope with these demands tend to present with behavioural and psychological problems. The school environment, which is a major socialising setting, appears to play an important role in the psychological well-being of adolescents. Unfortunately the school environment appears to be a risk factor for South African adolescents. Furthermore, inequalities in education across urban and rural schools are strongly apparent. Adolescents need to be resilient in order to face these challenges. Both school engagement and coping were found to contribute to resilience amongst adolescents. The aim of the study was therefore to investigate the moderating role of school environment in the relationship between school functioning, coping and resilience among adolescents. A quantitative, non-experimental, correlational design was implemented. A total of 790 learners (N=790) who participated in a larger research project conducted in 2010 was used in the study, with a mean age of 13.87 years (SD=0.613).The following measuring instruments were used: a biographical questionnaire; the Behavioural and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS- 2); the Coping Schema Inventory (R-CSI); and the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents (RSCA). The data was analysed by means of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that school environment plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between problem-focused coping and resilience, as well as between emotionfocused coping and resilience. A significant positive relationship was found between problemfocused coping and resilience in both urban and rural school environments. Emotion-focused coping has a significant negative relationship with resilience in urban school environments. Even though school environment did not play a significant moderating role in the relationship between school functioning and resilience, a significant main effect was found for school functioning as related to resilience. These findings emphasise the importance of further research in terms of coping and school engagement to promote resilience among South African adolescents. It is also evident that greater insight and knowledge are needed with regards to the moderating role of school environment when considering the relationship between school engagement, coping and resilience amongst adolescents.