Young childrens subjective wellbeing in a changing cultural context

1
Young childrens subjective well-being in a
changing cultural context

• CHILDRENS WELL-BEING AND THE MEDIA IN CULTURAL
  AND SOCIETAL CONTEXT -RESEARCH GROUP
• Leader Anja Riitta Lahikainen, co-reseacrhers
  Inger Kraav, Kari Tolonen, Merle Taimalu, Piia
  Korhonen, Juulia Paavonen, Satu Valkonen, Mira
  Roine, Jukka Partanen
• University of Tampere, Finland

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Basic hypothesis

• Childrens subjective well-being is too complex a
  phenomenon to be reduced to any set of family
  financial or social resources

3
Problems of definition and selected approach to
subjective well-being

• Lack of theory and lack of cross-disciplinary
  discussion and research
• This study integrates different disciplinary
  approaches and offers a comparative analysis of
  well-being at the system and individual level

4
Basic characteristics of subjective well-being

• Variablility it must be actively and
  continuously maintained
• Social and symbolic interactivity it is produced
  and reproduced in social relationships
• Contextuality contexts provide and change
  opportunities for action and interaction

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Assessment of subjective well-being based on
experiences of insecurity

• Relative absence of feelings of insecurity
• Relative absence of autonomy as a source of
  feelings of insecurity
• Relative absence of security engenders
  helplessness

6
Expressions of insecurity/security

• Lack on security finds expression in
• worries
• fears
• psychosomatic symtoms
• Security finds expression in
• exploration
• secure relationships

7
Family as a provider of subjective well-being and
as a threat

• Basic institution that regulates subjective
  well-being because
• Family members are the basic network
  relationships in childs everyday life
• Responsibility for children is legally delegated
  to the childs parents

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Data

• Interview data of 421 5-6 year-old children and
  questionnaires to parents
• 1993/1994 2002/2003
• Finland 105 109
• Estonia 115 91
• net sample sizes of random samples

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Steps to create contact with child
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Interview process

• Structure of the interview Motivation of the
  child
• Introduction
• -positioning the child as informant thank the
  child (verbal and
• I came to interview you because we nonverbal)
• adults do not know what it is like to be a
  child encourage the child
• nowadays show acceptance in other ways
• Key questions -
• Social network
• Who belongs to your family
• Who are other important persons
• Who are your important persons?
  repeat childs answers show
• Child places his/her important persons in you
  have listened to him/her
• target diagram the child him/herself in
  the emphasize childs significant
• middle, other persons on circles around
  the status as informant
• nucleus. The closer to the nucleus the
  person, create peaceful atmosphere
• the closer he/she is to the child.

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Assessment of subjective well-being child
interview

• Fears, five factor-based variables
• Social network characteristics importance of
  different groups of people, x sum-variables

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Assessment of subjective well-being parents as
informants

• Childs behaviour orientations (7)
• Childs worries (3)
• Childs psychosomatic symptoms (2)
  
• 12 factor-based indicators

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Assessment of family well-being

• Dissatisfaction with familys financial situation
• Parental strains
• Parental health problems
• Drinking problems
• Factor based indicators

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Subjective well-being of 5-6 year-old children in
Finland and Estonia in 1993/94 and in
2002/03Psychosomatic symptoms
P(country) 0.00
P(country)0.00 P(year) 0.03
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Subjective well-being of 5-6 year-old children in
Finland and Estonia in 1993/94 and in
2002/03Worries
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Subjective well-being of 5-6 year-old children in
Finland and Estonia in 1993/94 and in
2002/03Behavioral orientations
P(country) 0.01
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Behavioral orientations (continued)
P(country) 0.00
18
Behavioral orientations (continued)
P(country) 0.00 P(year) 0.00
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Subjective well-being of 5-6-year old children in
Finland and Estonia in 1993/94 and in 2002/03
Child-reported fears
p(country) 0.01 p(year)0.05
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Subjective well-being of 5-6 year-old children in
Finland and Estonia in 1993/94 and in 2002/03
Networks
P(country x year) 0.03
P(country) 0.00
P(country x year) 0.00
P(year) 0.01
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Networks (continued)
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Family stress of 5-6 year-old children in Finland
and Estonia in 1993/94 and 2002/03
P(country) 0,00 P(year) 0.00
P(country) 0.00
P(country) 0.00
P(country) 0.01 P(country x year) 0.03
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Financial problems and subjective well-being of
child(corr.)
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Parental strains and subjective well-being of
child (corr.)
25
Parental health problems and subjective
well-being of child (corr.)
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Drinking problems and subjective well-being of
child (corr.)
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Summary of results 1

• Both indicators of subjective well-being and
  family well-being differentiate childrens
  well-being in Estonia and Finland
• Both parents and children differentiate
  childrens well-being in Estonia and Finland

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Summary of results, 2

• Childrens subjective well-being is associated
  with the familys financial stress, parental
  strains, parents health and drinking problems
• Differents aspects of subjective well-being are
  differently sensitive to indicators of family
  stress
• Social change is connected with both qualitative
  and quantitative changes in subjective well-being

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Summary of results,3

• Broad scale of indicators of subjective
  well-being is needed
• Indicators should be theory-based
• More attention should be given to the different
  aspects of subjective well-being in addition to
  quantitative assessments