The Role of School Context on Subjective Well-Being and Social Well-Being in Adolescence

Abstract

The main question of this research is to establish if adolescents differ according to attachment to school perceived teacher support, and open classroom climate for discussion, and if there are different groups according to same aspects, so do those groups differ in various aspects of well-being, i.e. subjective well-being and social well-being. 1741 students (727 boys), of age 15-19 years (M=17.32, SD=0.96) from high schools in Lithuania participated. This study revealed that adolescents differ with regard to their attachment to school, teacher support and open classroom climate for discussions – six groups with distinct patterns of school context perception can be identified. The groups differ from each other in both subjective and social well-being. Students who perceive all school aspects positively report highest levels of subjective and social well-being. At the other extreme – the configuration of low attachment, low teacher support and lack of openness for discussions appears to be a marker of low subjective and social well-being.