CHILD HEALTH

Abstract

Subjective well-Being (SWB) means people’s feelings, emotions, innersatisfaction, happiness and their positive or negative thinking towards life events. Highersocio-economic status (SES) is associated with higher levels of SWB. Objective: The aim ofthe present study was to determine the level of SWB in Pakistani children. Furthermore, theimpact of age and SES on SWB of children was also investigated. Study Design: A randomsampling technique was employed. Setting: Private and public schools of Faisalabad. Period:two months. Material & Methods: Two hundred Students (100 girls and 100 boys) betweenthe ages of 9-12 years were taken from the private and public schools of Faisalabad. The datawas collected from the participants through face to face interview. A validated and reliableinventory Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS-4) was employed. The collected data wasanalysed by bivariate correlation and independent t test. Results: Results show that most(81.5%) of the children has high level of SWB. Young children (9-10 years) have significantly (p=0.005) higher level of SWB than older children (11-12 years). Furthermore, the study found asignificant positive relationship (p = 0.008, r= 0.187) between SWB and SES. Conclusions: Itis concluded that the level of SWB in Pakistani children is high and SWB varies with regard toage. SWB and SES are positively associated with each other. When programmes and policiesare developed for improvement of human life satisfaction particularly for children, involvementof age and SES factors must be considered.