Individual Adjustment Needs for Students in Regular Upper Secondary School

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic information about the participants.

Demographics	Total n (%)	Boys n (%)	Girls n (%)	p-value
Participants	419 (100)	238 (57)	181 (43)
Age (mean)	17.3	17.3	17.3	0.511^d
Language
Swedish as first language	348 (83)	200 (84)	148 (82)	0.706^e
Other first language	53 (13)	29 (12)	24 (13)
Missing (n = 18)
Diagnosis				0.052^e
No diagnosis	231 (55)	128 (30)	103 (25)
Neuropsychiatric diagnosis^a	88 (21)	60 (14)	28 (7)
Dyslexia^b	80 (19)	42 (10)	38 (9)
Other diagnosis^c	20 (5)	8 (2)	12 (3)
Educational program				0.196^e
Vocational program	285 (68)	168 (40)	117 (28)
Higher education preparatory program	134 (32)	70 (17)	64 (15)

Note:

^aDiagnosis of ADHD, ADD or Autism spectrum disorder (F90 or F84 in ICD-11).

^bDiagnosis of Dyslexia or other symbolic dysfunctions (R48 in ICD-11).

^cPhysical diagnosis or diagnosis of mood, anxiety, or stress-related disorder.

^dStudent’s t-test for independent samples was applied, α = .05.

^eChi-square (χ² ) test was applied, α = .05.

Table 2. Number of needs in the SSI items for the students in the study group.

SSI Items	Unmet needs n (%)	Partly met needs n (%)	Met needs n (%)	Total needs n (%)	No need n (%)
Remember things	210 (50)	127 (30)	35 (9)	372 (89)	47 (11)
Write	162 (39)	144 (34)	52 (12)	358 (85)	61 (15)
Do homework	174 (42)	97 (24)	48 (12)	319 (78)	92 (22)
Take exams	163 (39)	72 (17)	73 (18)	308 (74)	106 (26)
Read	164 (39)	98 (23)	33 (8)	295 (70)	124 (30)
Do mathematics	86 (23)	86 (23)	83 (21)	255 (67)	127 (33)
Get assistance	50 (14)	76 (21)	92 (25)	218 (60)	147 (40)
Participate in the classroom	75 (18)	44 (11)	41 (10)	160 (39)	256 (61)
Speak	68 (16)	31 (7)	51 (12)	150 (35)	269 (65)
Participate in sports activities	43 (11)	29 (8)	29 (8)	101 (27)	277 (73)
Participate in practical subjects	42 (12)	13 (4)	23 (6)	78 (22)	283 (68)
Interact with staff	25 (6)	42 (10)	19 (5)	100 (21)	332 (79)
Participate in practical activities during breaks	34 (8)	23 (6)	11 (3)	75 (17)	333 (83)
Go on field trips	7 (2)	20 (6)	17 (5)	44 (14)	277 (86)
Access the school	11 (3)	4 (1)	8 (2)	23 (6)	383 (94)
Participate in social activities during breaks	13 (3)	0 (0)	7 (2)	20 (5)	398 (95)

Note. The number of ratings for each item differs between 321 and 419.

Table 3. Comparison between boys and girls of adjustment needs in SSI items

SSI items	Total (n: 321–419)	Boys (n: 182–238)	Girls (n:139–181)	p-value^b
	Mean^a SSI rating	Mean^a SSI rating	Mean^a SSI rating
Remember things	1.81	1.72	1.92	.006
Write	2.03	2.07	1.98	.467
Do homework	2.14	2.14	2.14	.766
Read	2.28	2.29	2.26	.991
Take exams	2.29	2.29	2.30	.876
Do mathematics	2.66	2.77	2.51	.024
Get assistance	2.92	3.06	2.74	.006
Participate in the classroom	3.15	3.17	3.12	.651
Speak	3.24	3.37	3.08	.014
Participate in sports activities	3.43	3.53	3.29	.022
Participate in practical subjects	3.52	3.65	3.33	.007
Interact with staff	3.57	3.71	3.39	.000
Participate in practical activities during breaks	3.60	3.68	3.49	.030
Go on field trips	3.76	3.81	3.69	.175
Access the school	3.88	3.91	3.84	.172
Participate in social activities during breaks	3.89	3.93	3.84	.044

Note:

^aPossible SSI ratings between 1 and 4, the lower the mean value, the more need of adjustments, i.e., the poorer student-environment fit.

^bMann–Whitney U was applied, α = .05, significant values in bold.

Table 4. Comparisons of adjustment needs in SSI items between students with different diagnoses.

SSI items	Group 1 No diagnosis (n: 199–273) Mean	Group 2 Dyslexia^1 (n: 73–101) Mean	Group 3 Neuro-psychiatric diagnosis^2 (n: 81–113) Mean	Difference between groups^3	Pairwise differences between groups^4 (1–2, 2–3, 1–3)
Remember things	1.72	2.45	1.40	0.000	1-2, 2-3, 1–3
Write	2.11	2.92	1.80	0.545
Do homework	1.99	2.96	1.83	0.000	1-2, 2-3, ns
Take exams	2.36	2.36	2.00	0.054
Read	2.37	1.93	2.33	0.077
Do mathematics	2.67	2.69	2.59	0.840
Get assistance	2.98	2.91	2.87	0.690
Participate in the classroom	3.26	3.29	3.02	0.010	ns, 2-3, 1–3
Speak	3.23	3.39	3.10	0.241
Participate in sports activities	3.50	3.81	3.01	0.000	1-2, 2-3, 1–3
Participate in practical subjects	3.59	3.59	3.29	0.015	ns, ns, 1–3
Interact with staff	3.61	3.79	3.48	0.146
Participate in practical activities during breaks	3.68	3.82	3.27	0.000	ns, 2-3, 1–3
Go on field trips	3.82	3.85	3.54	0.012	ns, ns, 1–3
Access the school	3.92	3.90	3.79	0.018	ns, ns, 1–3
Participate in social activities during breaks	3.91	3.88	3.83	0.344