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.

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.

Individual Strivings in Social Comparison Processes: Achievement Motivation Goals in the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect.

In school settings, adolescents recur to different sources of information to create their beliefs about future possibilities. Social comparison processes and personal goals related to achievement play an important role in shaping these beliefs. Drawing upon literature concerning the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect and the Achievement Goal Theory, the present study aimed at understanding how adolescents attending the last year of secondary school (n = 689; M age = 18.15; SD = 0.57) perceive their possibilities of potentially having a better future than their classmates. In particular, we sought to understand in what way this perception is influenced by students' perceived relative position in their class-which accounts for the social comparison process-and its interaction with different types of achievement goals (mastery-approach goals, mastery-avoidance goals, performance-approach goals, and performance-avoidance goals). Results showed that perceived relative position mediated the relationship between the predictors (classmates' average achievement and individual achievement) and future expectations. Furthermore, analyses of moderated mediation showed that both performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals reduced the impact of a low perceived relative position on future expectations, while mastery-approach and mastery-avoidance goals did not moderate its effect.