Perceived Social Support and Well Being in School; The Role of Students’ Ethnicity

Abstract

This paper reports on the relationship between early adolescents’ evaluation of the availability of instructional and social support from parents, teachers, and peers and their well-being. The main questions are whether indigenous and immigrant youngsters differ in their evaluation of the availability of support and whether the relationship varies by group. Participants in the study were 245 Dutch and 172 Turkish/Moroccan 10- to 13-year olds with a lower class background. Both Dutch and immigrant youngsters clearly distinguish between the various agents of support. Dutch youngsters report more instructional support from their parents than from their teacher, whereas immigrant youngsters report more instructional support from their teacher. Both for Dutch and immigrant students, parents were seen as the primary providers of emotional support. Reported well-being in the classroom was related to available teacher support and to the frequency of occurrence of learning-related problems.