Psychological well-being and self-esteem in Slovak adolescents

The interest in adolescence as a transitional developmental stage characterized by many important biological, psychological, and social changes is never-ending. Studies into adolescents in the environment of their school, peer and family with regard to constantly socio-economical changes bring new fi ndings about this period of life. In addition, mental health, its components and possible determinants in adolescence are always an important topic for researchers in this fi eld. Therefore, the present thesis is focusing on mental health, in particular on psychological well-being and self-esteem among Slovak adolescents. Chapter 1 provides an overall introduction in the adolescence period relevant for our study. Firstly, individual parts of the present study are focused on the constructs of psychological well-being and self-esteem as aspects of mental health. Their protective and risk factors, changes over time and countries’ differences in adolescence are described in this part. Secondly, mental health in the school context is described. Particularly, the model of well-being in the school environment, perceptions of school belonging/school connectedness and social relationships, and bullying as a form of violence in the school context are introduced in this part of thesis. At the end of the fi rst chapter the following general aims of the present study are mentioned: (1) to unravel the factor structure of measures for psychological well-being and self-esteem; (2) to explore determinants of psychological well-being and self-esteem at a certain moment in their adolescence; (3) to explore change over time of psychological well-being and self-esteem. Also the six research questions of this thesis and the overall outline are described. The background of the study, participants, study variables and statistical analyses used in this thesis are described in Chapter 2. Four samples are included to the present study. Three samples consist of Slovak respondents. The fi rst one comprises of 519 adolescents with mean age 11.5 years and same adolescents with mean age 14.9 in the follow-up measure. The second sample is composed of 1,023 Slovak adolescents with mean age 11.5 and 3,694 adolescents with mean age 14.3 years are belonged to the third sample. The Hungarian respondents consisted of 431 adolescents with mean age 11.5 years are included to fourth sample. Slovak data were collected on September 1999, February 2000, and June 2000 (first sample), April-June 2003 (second sample) and on September – December 2006 (third sample). Hungarian data were collected on October 2000, January and June 2001. Furthermore measures are described.

Associations between assertiveness, psychological well-being, and self-esteem in adolescents

Abstract This study explored the associations between adolescents' assertive behavior, psychological well-being, and self-esteem. The sample consisted of 1,023 students (14.9 Ϯ .51; 47.6% boys). Two dimensions of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (distress and performance), 2 factors of the General Health Questionnaire-12 (depression/anxiety and social dysfunction), and 2 factors of the Rosenberg SelfEsteem Scale (positive self-esteem and negative self-esteem) were used; data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression. It was found that (a) the more anxious respondents felt in assertive situations, the less frequently they engaged in these situations; and that (b) both dimensions of assertiveness were associated with psychological well-being and self-esteem

Adolescents' psychological well-being and self-esteem in the context of relationships at school

Background: The school environment has shown itself to be an important factor in explaining adolescent behaviour. The relationships and experiences that pupils have at school have been found to influence their development, psychological well-being, self-esteem and social adjustment. Purpose: The aim of the study is to explore whether there is a relationship between pupil-peer and pupil-teacher relationships and psychological well-being and self-esteem, and whether this relationship varies according to pupils' experience of bullying or being bullied. Sample: Data consisted of a sample of 3694 students (mean age +/- SD 14.3 +/- 0.62years; 51% girls) from elementary schools in Slovakia. Design and method: Questionnaires were administered to the students. In terms of data analysis, linear regression was firstly used in the whole sample to explore pupil-peer and pupil-teacher relationships and psychological well-being (the depression/anxiety and social dysfunction subscales of GHQ-12) and self-esteem (positive and negative self-esteem subscales of RSE). Next, the whole sample was divided into four groups in terms of involvement in bullying (normative contrasts, passive victims, aggressive non-victims and aggressive victims). Linear regression was used to explore the associations between pupil-peer and pupil-teacher relationships with the two factors of psychological well-being and two factors of self-esteem in these four groups. Results: As findings showed, better pupil-peer relationships and also pupil-teacher relationships were significantly related statistically to less depression/anxiety and social dysfunction, as well as to more positive and less negative self-esteem. All bullying categories were significantly related to pupil-peer relationships and the four dependent variables. However, in the categories of aggressive victims and aggressive non-victims, the pupil-teacher relationship was not significantly related to their psychological well-being and self-esteem. Also, in all subgroups, better pupil-peer relationships were significantly related to less depression/anxiety and social dysfunction, as well as with more positive and less negative self-esteem. Conclusion: Given the differences found in the connections between pupil-teacher relationships and well-being and self-esteem, between those who bullied and those who were bullied, it would seem that the school environment can play an important role in implementing anti-bullying prevention strategies

Associations between assertiveness, psychological well-being, and self-esteem in adolescents

<p>This study explored the associations between adolescents assertive behavior, psychological well-being, and self-esteem. The sample consisted of 1,023 students (14.9 +/-.51; 47.6% boys). Two dimensions of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (distress and performance), 2 factors of the General Health Questionnaire-12 (depression/anxiety and social dysfunction), and 2 factors of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (positive self-esteem and negative self-esteem) were used; data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression. It was found that (a) the more anxious respondents felt in assertive situations, the less frequently they engaged in these situations; and that (b) both dimensions of assertiveness were associated with psychological well-being and self-esteem.</p>