IDENTIFYING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRENGTH OF SCHOOL SOCIAL SUPPORT AND LEVEL OF HOPE IN CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES

Abstract

Studies have found that financial hardships can severely impact children in various ways, even emotionally, physically and academically. Yet, there are still children from low-income families who carry a sense of hope towards life, where research has found hope to be an important adaptive pathway in dealing with life stressors. The aim of the present study was to explore if the perceived frequency of social support from the school system, namely from teachers and classmates, is related to hope levels in children from low-income families. The study also sought to explore if the importance that children placed on social support from teachers and classmates, moderated the relationship between frequency of social support and level of hope in low-income children. Structured upon Snyder’s Hope Theory and Tardy’s Model of Social Support, the present study employed a mixed-methods research. The quantitative aspect of the study built upon existing secondary data from the second phase of a larger ongoing study on mothers and children from low-income families. The data from the larger study was collected through face-to-face interviews with 513 mother-child dyads where only results from the children’s interview were used in the present study. Linear regression analyses were performed on the quantitative data. The qualitative aspect of the study sought to find out how relevant the quantitative findings were to the current experiences of teachers in Singapore. 2 focus group discussions (n=5 each) were conducted with primary school teachers in Singapore. The quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated to provide a more holistic understanding of the relationship between social support from teachers and classmates, and hope levels in low-income children. Key findings in the study indicated that the frequency of social support from teachers and classmates predicted the level of hope in low-income children. The study also found that importance ratings of teachers’ social support interacted with the frequency of teachers’ social support and hope levels in low-income children. Additionally, the study highlighted the experiences of teachers in providing social support and the interaction between teachers’ and classmates’ social support. The findings of the study serve to highlight the importance of the school as a social support system for children from low-income families. The study also proposes that the school social support system be empowered that it may be a safe space for low-income children to develop hopefulness.