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The Longitudinal Relationship Between School Belonging and Subjective Well-Being in School Among Elementary School Students

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Abstract

Situated within a positive psychology perspective, the present study explored the relationship between school belonging and subjective well-being (SWB) in school among elementary school students. In order to ensure the applicability of the Brief Adolescents’ Subjective Well-Being in School Scale (BASWBSS) to elementary school students, firstly, we provided evidence for its validity using two samples (total n = 1333) of elementary school students. Secondly, we used cross-lagged structural equation modeling techniques to evaluate the nature and directionality of relationships between school belonging and SWB in school. To test these relationships, 890 students (58.54 % male) completed a measure of school belonging and SWB in school at two time points, 6 weeks apart. The results showed that (1) BASWBSS has good applicability among elementary school students and (2) significant bidirectional relationships were found between school belonging and SWB in school. Overall, the present study provided important evidence of applicability of the BASWBSS with elementary school students and the role of school belonging in elementary school age children’s SWB in school.

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Acknowledgments

The present study was funded by Humanities Social Sciences Research Planning Foundation from Ministry of Education, 2015 (No. 15YJA190003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, People’s Republic of China

    Lili Tian, Li Zhang & Xiaoting Zheng

  2. Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    E. Scott Huebner

  3. School of Politics and Administration, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, People’s Republic of China

    Wang Liu

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  1. Lili Tian
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  2. Li Zhang
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Tian, L., Zhang, L., Huebner, E.S. et al. The Longitudinal Relationship Between School Belonging and Subjective Well-Being in School Among Elementary School Students. Applied Research Quality Life 11, 1269–1285 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-015-9436-5

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