Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between past and present school experiences and the changing pattern of sense of coherence (SOC) during a period of 10 months among Japanese urban high school students.
Methods: The participants of this study were 1,539 boys and girls who are students at a private high school (grade 1 to 3; age between 15 to 18 years) in Tokyo metropolitan area. The study was retrospective in design and partly longitudinal survey. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire test with central location testing method was performed in May 2007(Time 1), November 2007(Time 2) and March 2008(Time 3). For the measurement, the SOC-13 scale was used with their past and present successful experiences in sports, school work, art, and relationships with friends or bullying at school.
Results: Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed. The changing pattern of 5 variables of participants’SOC, i.e.‘sustaining high score group’,‘ascending score group’,‘fluctuant score group’,‘descending score group’and‘sustaining low score group’were the dependent variables. The direct determinants of sustaining high SOC score were found to be the participation in school club activity and not being bullied in elementary school, and excellence in sports, art, school work, and relationship with friends in senior high school. The direct determinants of ascending SOC score were to participate actively in school club activity, to manage relationship with friends and to have a certain number of friends in senior high school. The direct determinants of fluctuant SOC score group were to excel sports in elementary school, and also to manage relationship with friends and being bullied in junior and senior high schools. Conclusion: The results supported hypothesis by Antonovsky basically. Successful coping experiences and negative experiences such as getting bullied determined their SOC score.
