School-Related Stress, School Support, and Somatic Complaints

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between school-related stress, social support from teachers and classmates, and somatic complaints in the general population of Norwegian adolescents. The study was undertaken as part of the World Health Organization’s survey “Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children” (HBSC). A representative sample of 4,952 Norwegian 11- to 15-year-olds completed self-report measures on school-related stress, social support from teacher and classmates, and the HBSC symptom checklist. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that students with high levels of school-related stress had a higher odds ratio (OR) for weekly headache (4.1), abdominal pain (3.9), backache (4.8), dizziness (5.4), and coexisting somatic complaints(6.1). For social support, the associations were weaker but students with low classmate support had a consistently higher OR for weekly symptoms. Interaction terms of school-related stress and social support did not reach significance. Findings suggest that adolescents’ frequency of somatic complaints partly may reflect their adaptation to ordinary school demands.