Developing sense of coherence in educational contexts: Making progress in promoting mental health in children

Figures & data

Figure 1. The components of the Sense of Coherence.

Figure 2. Comprehensibility (Krause & Lorenz, 2009).

Figure 3. Manageability (Krause & Lorenz, 2009).

Figure 4. Meaningfulness (Krause & Lorenz, 2009).

Figure 5. ‘How do you feel mostly?’ Frequency of the response by the children before starting at school.

Table I. Sentence completion: Example 1 (a boy whose experience at school is not marked by success and who also reflects problems of social acceptance).

Start of sentence	First school year	Second school year
If I can't do ...	then I just can't do it.	then I hand it in later.
I don't like ...	real cars.	that everybody picks on me, because I already have a girl-friend.
The other children ...	like to play.	pick on me.
I am afraid ...	of nothing.	to go to school, because I write a dictation.
I am sad ...	when others push me.	sometimes.
I am most happy ...	about food fights.	about Judo.
I am angry ...	when I am not allowed to come.	about my stupidity.
At school ...	mathematics is good.	I like the breaks.

Table II. Sentence completion: Example 2 (a boy who is successful at school, likes to go to school, has friends and experiences the family as a supporting resource).

Start of sentence	First school year	Second school year
If I can't do something ...	then I ask my parents.	then I ask my parents.
I don't like ...	when someone annoys me.	that my friend argues with me.
The other children ...	are my friends.	get on with me.
I am afraid ...	yes, sometimes.	in the dark.
I am sad ...	yes, also sometimes.	when sometimes I don't know how to do something.
I am most happy ...	when I make something for example and my mum likes it.	when I know how to do everything.
I am angry ...	yes, sometimes - when for example someone breaks my toys.	when my friend hits me.
At school ...	I like it.	I enjoy myself.

Table III. How children draw their parents’ reactions on marks.

Mark	Happiness	Sadness	Anger	Practise^a	Punishment	Consolation	Encouragement	Invalid^b	N
1	70	–	–	–	–	–	–	3	73
2	39	–	–	1	–	2	1	6	49
3	4	7	16	2	–	6	4	6	45
4	2	3	13	3	1	2	2	3	29
5	–	6	19	2	4	1	–	3	35
n	115	16	48	8	5	11	7	21	231

^aParents requested their children to practise to improve their grades.

^bThe drawings did not show any reaction of the parents.

Table IV. Recommendation of the teachers and decision of the parents on the further schools after primary school (here: the Grammar School and the Hauptschule), n = 210.

	Children with immigration background		Children without immigration background
	Hauptschule^a	Grammar school	Hauptschule	Grammar school
Recommendation	61.8%	14.0%	32.2%	86.0%
Decision	76.5%	18.8%	23.5%	81.2%

^aThis type of school only exists in Germany; it is the school for poor learners. For the children it means discrimination when they have to go to this school.

Figure 6. ‘How do you feel mostly?’ Frequency of the response ‘happy’ from the first to the fourth grade (t1 = before starting at school, t2 = at the end of the 1st grade, t5 = at the end of the 4th grade).

Krause, C. & Lorenz, R.-F. (2009). Was Kindern Halt gibt. Salutogenese in der Erziehung [What keeps children grounded. Salutogenesis in education]. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

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