Marina FORTES – BOURBOUSSON
Camille HUMEAU
Marion JALOUX
- Defining children’s well-being
The matter of well-being or quality of life is particularly difficult to define and to delimit because of the multiple domains to which its study applies to. Therefore, numerous definitions of well-being or quality of life have been suggested in several studies, without being able to reach a consensus (Bacro, Florin, Guimard & Rambaud, 2013).
Indeed, the OCDE’s definition (2009) states that children’s well-being is measured by their quality of life. Nevertheless, well-being and quality of life are two close yet distinguishable notions. This distinction may be related to the opposite between objectivity and subjectivity. In fact, quality of life would be defined as a notion that gathers objective aspects, leading to an objective measurement with measurable indicators.
Quality of life also gathers objectives aspects apprehended by the person itself whereas well-being referred to subjective dimensions. We shall then state either a subjective quality of life or perceived well-being. Studies’s tendency to focus on subjective aspects of this field often concerns the medical sector. But recently, with the growth of positive psychology, the interest has converged towards young children in order to define clearly the way they evaluate their own well-being – considering that the subject himself is the most able to do that efficiently (Bacro et al., 2013 ; Bacro, Rambaud, Florin & Guimard, 2011). The goal is thus to provide knowledge and tools allowing the improvement of chlidren’s quality of life, for example in school (Huebner, 1994).
Some authors define subjective well-being, as well named perceived quality of life or life satisfaction (Diener, Oishi & Lucas, 2003) with three concepts. First, positive affects are defined as enjoyable feelings or moods. Second, negative affects referred to guilt or anger. Finally, general life satisfaction is defined as a cognitive and affective evaluation of life’s positivity in its globality (Lyons, & Huebner, 2016 ; Ng, Huebner, & Hills, 2015). This evaluation depends on the person’s standards in a general way (Huebner, 1994). General life satisfaction is stated as a key indicator of well-being in most of the studies (Proctor, Linley & Maltby, 2009).
- Evaluating children’s well-being
Based on the fact that life satisfaction is situated at a general level, a unidimensional evaluation with a global score would appear stable and fast. But the concept of unidimensionality remains poorly informative (Guimard et al., 2015) and could hide significative differences regarding each specific domains which compose it (Huebner, Zullig & Saha, 2012). Indeed, Huebner (1994) states that a multidimensional model of life’s satisfaction would appear as a more useful option, offering a more differentiated perception of children regarding their life satisfaction (Huebner, 1994). This author draws attention to a scale allowing a more differentiated evaluation of perceived quality of life, intended for children and teenagers aged from 8 to 18 years old: The Multidimensional Students Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS). This scale, constituted by 40 items, measures five domains of life satisfaction: « Family », « Friends », « School », « Life environment » and « Self » (Huebner et al., 2012). This scale’s establishment has aroused the interest of researchers, leading to its validation for French population (Fenouillet, Heutte, Martin-Krumm, & Boniwell, 2014). Thus, a French version of the abbreviated form has been developed in order to adapt this self-evaluating tool to children, right from the age of 5 years old and for the ones with intellectual deficiencies (Coudronnière, Bacro, Guimard, & Muller, 2016).
- The study of well-being in school within the french context
Within the French context, studies conclusions on well-being in school showed that children evaluate their scholar well-being in a much more positive way than in a negative one (Guimard, et al., 2013). They are globally satisfied of their relations with their teachers and they are not afraid when they are in school (Guimard, et al., 2013). In comparison with other countries from the OCDE, the French pupils are situated at the upper line of the ranking. France should then be well-positioned regarding children’s satisfaction in school (HBSC, 2010). These results appear satisfying but need to be nuanced. In fact, even though the global appreciation of school is rated positively, results show that school’s appreciation by children decreases with advanced in school (Sauneron, 2013). At an international level, other actors emphasize similar results stipulating that students from primary schools have better feelings about their school quality of life than students from secondary school (Kong, 2008 ; Randolph et al., 2010). Guimard and his collaborators in 2015 propose a more thorough analysis to explain these differences and show the relevance to explore several dimensions to investigate student’s well-being in school. They state that primary school pupils are the most satisfied by their relation towards teachers, school activities and relation to evaluation, than secondary students are. Secondary students show more satisfaction regarding their relation to other students and feel safer (Guimard et al., 2015). This information, even though interesting and innovative, is only a beginning in the understanding of student’s well-being at the core of their scholarship. Moreover, a significative part of children who do not appreciate school a lot or at all remains up to 25% (Guimard et al., 2015). Other researches are therefore necessary in order to enlarge knowledge in this field.
Bibliographie
Bacro, F., Florin, A., Guimard, P., & Rambaud, A. (2013). « L’évaluation du bien-être des jeunes enfants : nouvelles perspectives en psychologie du développement », in Florin, A., Préau, M., Le bien-être, Paris, L’Harmattan, coll. « Logiques sociales », p. 71-82.
Bacro, F., Rambaud, A., Florin, A., & Guimard, P. (2011). « L’évaluation de la qualité de vie et son utilité dans le champ de l’éducation », ANAE, n° 112-113, p. 189-194.
Coudronnière, C., Bacro, F., Guimard, P., & Muller, J. B. (2016, in press). Validation of the French adaptation of the “Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale” in its abbreviated form, for 5- to11-years-old children with and without intellectual disability.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, Culture, and Subjective Well-Being: Emotional and Cognitive Evaluations of Life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 403‑425. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145056
Fenouillet, F., Heutte, J., Martin-Krumm,C., & Boniwell. I., (2014). Validation française de l’échelle multidimensionnelle de satisfaction de vie chez l’élève. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, Canadian Psychological Association, p.1 – 29.
Guimard, P., Bacro F., Ferrière, S., Florin, A., & Gaudonville, T. (2015). Le bien-être des élèves à l’école et au collège : validation d’une échelle d’évaluation multidimensionnelle, analyses descriptives et différentielles, rapport n° 2015-88-89, appel à projet « L’égalité des chances à l’École », MENESR-DEPP, Commissariat général à l’égalité des territoires, et le Défenseur des droits.
Huebner, E. S. (1994). Preliminary development and validation of a multidimensional life satisfaction scale for children. Psychological Assessment, 6(2), 149‑158. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.6.2.149
Huebner, E. S., Zullig, K. J., & Saha, R. (2012). Factor Structure and Reliability of an Abbreviated Version of the Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale. Child Indicators Research, 5(4), 651‑657. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-012-9140-z
Kong, C.-K. (2008). Classroom learning experiences and students’ perceptions of quality of school life. Learning Environments Research, 11(2), 111‑129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-008-9040-9
Lyons, M. D., & Huebner, E. S. (2016). Academic Characteristics of Early Adolescents with Higher Levels of Life Satisfaction. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 11(3) 757‑771. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-015-9394-y
Ng, Z. J., E. Huebner, S., & J. Hills, K. (2015). Life Satisfaction and Academic Performance in Early Adolescents: Evidence for Reciprocal Association. Journal of School Psychology, 53(6), 479‑491. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2015.09.004
OCDE, 2009, Assurer le bien-être des enfants, Paris, OCDE.
Proctor, C. L., Linley, P. A., & Maltby, J. (2009). Youth Life Satisfaction: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(5), 583‑630. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-008-9110-9
Randolph, J. J., Kangas, M., & Ruokamo, H. (2010). Predictors of Dutch and Finnish Children’s Satisfaction with Schooling. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11(2), 193‑204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-008-9131-4
Sauneron S., 2013, « Favoriser le bien-être des élèves, condition de la réussite éducative », Note d’analyse, n° 313, Centre d’analyse stratégique.
