"Child subjective well-being has gained growing international acknowledgement in the
last decade, but there are still open questions. How do we measure child subjective wellbeing,
and are the same indicators relevant for children and adults? Is child subjective
well-being directly associated with material wealth? Does the subjective well-being of
children vary between countries? How does it vary? What explains that variation? In
the past the subjective well-being of children has been compared at country level using
published data derived from comparable international surveys, most commonly the
Health Behaviour of School-aged Children survey. The league tables of child well-being
produced in this way are fairly consistent. In seeking to explain these national rankings
we tend to explore associations with other national league tables. Thus in the UNICEF
(2013) Report Card 11, country rankings on subjective well-being were compared with
country rankings on more objective domains of well-being – material, health, education,
housing and so on, all at a macro level. In this paper we explore international variations
in subjective well-being.1 To explore child subjective well-being and its determinants we
use the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study – World Health Organization
Cross-National Survey (HBSC-study) which has been collecting data on adolescents
every four years since 1983/84 in a growing number of countries in Europe and North
America (Currie et al. 2012; www.hbsc.org). The aim of the HBSC-study is to increase
the understanding of health, health-related behaviour and the social contexts of young
people aged 11, 13 and 15 years. The study applies cluster-sampling at schools (classroom)
and an identical questionnaire is used in all countries." (author's abstract
