Effects of Social Support and Class Cohesiveness on Health-related Quality of Life in Middle School Students / 農村醫學 地域保健

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important outcome for middle school students. This study was designed to illustrate the effect of social support and class cohesiveness associated on HRQoL. METHODS: The subjects comprised 516 students from three middle schools in Daegu, South Korea that responded to a self-administered questionnaire in February 2014. The purposes of the questionnaire were explained to the subjects. RESULTS: The total mean of HRQoL was 81.1+/-15.3. Social functioning showed the highest score of 87.1+/-15.3 and emotional functioning showed the lowest score of 73.8+/-21.5. Teacher support (B=3.185, p=0.001) had a significant effect on the physical health summary scores. Class cohesiveness (B=2.237, p=0.022), friendships (B=5.102, p<0.001) and teacher support (B=2.498, p=0.006) had a significant effect on the psychosocial health summary scores. Finally, class cohesiveness (B=2.137, p=0.016), friendships (B=4.133, p<0.001) and teacher support (B=2.670, p=0.001) had a significant effect on the overall scores. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provide a basis for the development of strategies to improve health-related quality of life for middle school students, namely that relevant programs should be based on the improvement of social support and class cohesiveness.