Conceptualising the primary to secondary school transition within the theoretical framework of ecosocial theory

Donaldson, Caitlyn, Moore, Graham ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6136-3978 and Hawkins, Jemma ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1998-9547 2023. Conceptualising the primary to secondary school transition within the theoretical framework of ecosocial theory. International Journal of Educational and Life Transitions 2 (1) , pp. 1-17. 10.5334/ijelt.61

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Abstract

The transition between primary and secondary school is an important event in the lives of young people with the potential to impact mental health outcomes in the short and long term. This paper argues that ecosocial theory, a theory of epidemiology, offers important insights into the relationship between students, schools and mental health across the transition process. It draws on theoretical perspectives on psychosocial and flexible resource distribution, contending that low socio-economic status is associated with lower resources, resulting in greater risk of a problematic transition experience. It also highlights that the school environment may affect how stressful the transition process is for young people, influencing levels of school connectedness and sense of belonging post-transition. The paper concludes by considering how critical realism, in its ontological realism and epistemological relativism, offers an important research paradigm from which to research school transition and mental health.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer)
Publisher:	Ubiquity Press
ISSN:	2754-2890
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	11 July 2023
Date of Acceptance:	6 July 2023
Last Modified:	24 Aug 2023 19:34
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/160965

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