Elizabeth Smailes, PhD, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 600 West 168th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10032, 212-342-0264, ems37@columbia.edu, Robyn R.M. Gershon, MHS DrPH, Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, 600 west 168th st, 4th floor, New York, NY 10032, and Fran Allen, DrPh, Baltimore County Public School, 1940 G Greenspring Drive, Timomium, MD 21093.

School’s should provide a supportive environment for students, and encourage their intellectual, emotional and social growth. However, school may also be a serious source of stress for students, resulting in adverse mental health outcomes. Numerous school stressors, such as exposure to gang violence, discrimination and harassment from classmates, and pressure to use drugs or have sex may have a negative effect on the well-being of students. This study examined the impact of school stressors on student mental health. 776 youth in grades 8 through 12 at a large north eastern public high school completed a questionnaire on school stress and mental health (98% response rate). School stressors included exposure to dangerous situations, (i.e., gangs, weapons, trespassers, feeling threatened by other students), sexual violation, verbal abuse, discrimination (i.e., racial, sexual, gender, physical appearance), and pressure to use alcohol or drugs. Suicide ideation, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms were measured. The findings indicate that exposure to verbal abuse, discrimination, and dangerous situations were related to increased suicidal ideation. Verbal abuse and discrimination were also associated with both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, pressure to use alcohol and drugs was related to increased depressive symptoms and sexual violation was associated with a significant elevation in anxiety symptoms. The results suggest that specific school stressors negatively affect the mental health of students and interventions that address these modifiable stressors may improve the health of youth. Personal, family and work related stressors, along with school security, social support and personal coping impacted these results.

Learning Objectives:

• The learner will be able to identify school, work, family, and personal stressors of high school students
• The learner will understand the impact of these stressors on students mental health
• The learner will be able to assess the impact of school security, social support and personal coping on the relationships between student life stressors and poor mental health

Keywords: Youth Violence, School Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.