Measuring promotors of school functioning: Informing school-based psychosocial support for crisis-affected students in Lebanon

Abstract

The evolving situation in Lebanon is characterized by multiple crises that affect education and can negatively affect a student’s school-functioning and mental health. The Ministry of Education and Higher Education decided in 2019 to further intensify and upscale implementation of school-based psychosocial support. This study is a contextualization and validation of the Student Learning in Emergencies Checklist for use in Lebanon. A 27-item questionnaire was proposed and tested to explore categories for measuring the effect of psychosocial support on academic functioning and academic performance and build evidence for program design. Promotors for school functioning were also explored. The participants (N = 1048) were divided between Lebanese students (N = 573) and non-Lebanese students (N = 520) with a mean age of 11.77 and gender balance. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the combined proposed categories explained 33.7% of the variance of school functioning as opposed to other factors. The new categories for safety and support at school and safety and support at home were found to predict academic functioning alone. Lebanese students reported significantly reduced scores in safety and support at school compared to non-Lebanese students. The need for psychosocial and educational support increased significantly with age, and males reported lower scores than females. Content and strategies for school-based psychosocial support for students are discussed.