Child’s Well-Being –Conceptualisation and Methods of Measurement
Abstract
The article is theoretical in nature, focusing on defining, organising, and describing well-being both in terms of understanding the concept and reviewing research findings in this field. The definition of the concept dates back to the ancient philosophical tradition of defining a happy life through hedonic and eudaimonic perspectives, and has evolved through the contributions of positive psychology. Contemporary scientific approach to well-being integrates both theoretical and methodological traditions, allowing for the simultaneous study of objective and subjective well-being.
Research on children’s well-being is presented through examples of large-scale projects and meta-analyses. These studies have identified numerous predictors and correlates of well-being in children and adolescents, as well as risk factors. Three measurement tools differing in the type of well-being, the number of scale items and the number of measured factors, were presented as examples. There are: Overall Life Satisfaction (OLS), The Satisfaction With Life Scale-Children (SWLS-C) and The Children’s Worlds Subjective Well-Being Scale (CWSWbS).
Findings from research on children’s well-being allow for their applications in the form of mental health support programs and the design of a friendly educational and upbringing environment.
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