Psychosocial well-being of schoolchildren in the Barents region : a comparison from the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland and Northwest Russia

Abstract

This dissertation examines and compares the state and factors of schoo1children's psychosocial well-being in the different nations and school cultures of the Barents Region. The factors for well-being are divided into having factors related to material welfare, loving factors related to social interaction and being factors related to personal growth, based on Erik Allardt's conceptual model of well-being. The descriptive analyses reveal a clear difference in pupils' life satisfaction; pupils in the north are more satisfied with their lives, and their families' affluence is higher when compared with the countries in general. Explanatory models show that all three categories of well-being have an impact on pupils' school and life satisfaction, school atmosphere being one of the most important factors.