Muutused Eesti laste psühholoogilises heaolus aastatel 2013-2021
Kuupäev
2024
Autorid
Ajakirja pealkiri
Ajakirja ISSN
Köite pealkiri
Kirjastaja
Tartu Ülikool
Abstrakt
In my bachelor's thesis, I investigated what changes have occurred in children's psychological
well-being assessment between 2013-2021, using Estonian data from the International Survey
of Children's Well-being for the years 2013, 2018, and 2021. I focused on 6th grade students'
responses about their well-being. I used frequency distributions, cross tabulations, analysis of
variance, multinomial regression analysis and T-test to find the research results.
Just over half of the children in the survey rate their psychological well-being as average, the
proportion of children with a low well-being rating has risen and just under half rate their
well-being as high. Autonomy, positive relations with others, and purpose in life were rated
highest, and self-acceptance and personal growth were rated lowest. Comparing the 2013 and
2018 results with those of 2021, the biggest changes occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic,
with all psychological well-being ratings decreasing. Specifically, girls tended to be more
critical than boys about their psychological well-being, which was particularly noticeable in
2021. While in 2013 girls rated themselves lower than boys on self-acceptance and
environmental mastery, then in 2021 girls rated themselves lower on their relationships with
others and on the purposefulness of their lives.
My thesis found that psychological well-being is significantly related to children's subjective
evaluations of their home, school and friends. Specifically, children with low psychological
wellbeing rate lower than children with medium and high wellbeing in terms of satisfaction
with family members, not feeling safe at home and school, and how teachers listen to them.
Based on the results of the thesis and the psychological well-being assessments, it can be said
that between 2013 and 2021, changes in children's psychological well-being have been on a
negative downward trend. In the future, the needs of the child need to be taken into account
in order to support and enhance their well-being. It would also be necessary to pay attention
to the sources of stress and the ways to mitigate them.