Browsing by Author "Elomaa, Nora"

My master's thesis examines the dimensions of well-being in sixth-graders (school engagement, self-esteem, school burnout and depression) as well as their relations to each other. This thesis focuses on how social factors can predict the dimensions of well-being. Previous studies have shown that adolescent's school engagement has a positive effect even later in working life. According to research the support of classmates, teacher and family is related to the well-being in adolescents. The results of this study can be used to develop tools for support the well-being of adolescents. In addition, it might be useful for the future research of adolescents’ well-being. This is a quantitative study, and the research material was collected as part of the #Uuttakoulua - project. However, my thesis is not part of the project. The data was collected in three different schools in the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki, and it consist of 156 respondents; 99 of them belongs to the experimental group with strength-based education and 57 belongs to the comparison group. Participants in the study were sixth-graders and their answers were filled by an online questionnaire. IBM SPSS Statistics 27 was used for data analysis. I used statistical methods to answer my research questions (independent sample t-test, means - standard deviations, Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression analysis). The results showed that the well-being of sixth-graders is generally good. They experienced more school engagement and higher self-esteem than school burnout and depression. The dimensions of well-being correlate statistically significantly with each other, for example self-esteem and depression had a quite strong negative correlation. Based on the results, support of the family seemed to have a more significant impact on students’ well-being than other social factors.