Monitoring and Fostering Elementary School Students' Life Satisfaction: A Case Study

Taking Students on a Strengths Safari: A Multidimensional Pilot Study of School-Based Wellbeing for Young Neurodiverse Children

There is a robust body of psychological research linking youth mental health and academic achievement. However, students in early childhood are rarely represented in this research, and children with disabilities and/or neurological differences are virtually absent. Thus, the present pilot study explored the effects of a structured psychoeducation program designed to enhance school-based wellbeing (SBWB) for young students who are neurodivergent (ND). This study utilized a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effects of the Student Strengths Safari intervention on (1) students’ self-reported covitality and (2) teacher-rated executive functioning to (3) examine data for evidence of a dual-factor model of SBWB. Two classrooms in a suburban, Mid-Atlantic private school were randomly assigned to the waitlist control group (n = 14) (1st grade) and the intervention group (n = 10) (2nd grade), and quantitative data were analyzed at pretest and posttest to determine intervention outcomes. Key findings produced evidence to support (a) a statistically significant interaction effect for improvements in executive functioning relative to the waitlist control group (p = 0.011), and (b) the utility of a new theoretical dual-factor model to advance SBWB for ND students in early elementary education.

Latent Class Analysis of Mental Health in Middle Childhood: Evidence for the Dual-Factor Model

Mental health is complex, comprising both mental distress and well-being. This study used latent class analysis to identify common combinations of mental distress and well-being (‘mental health classes’) among schoolchildren aged 8–9 years (N = 3340). Thirteen items, measuring a range of conduct problems, emotional symptoms, and subjective well-being, were included in the analysis. Four mental health classes were identified: (1) complete mental health (n = 1895, 57%), (2) vulnerable (n = 434, 13%), (3) emotional symptoms but content (n = 606, 18%), and (4) conduct problems but content (n = 404, 12%). The classes were reliably identified across different datasets, and for males and females. Differential relations with covariates indicated that mental health classes were distinct and externally valid. The results supported the dual-factor model of mental health, suggesting that mental distress and subjective well-being are separate continua. Three of the four possible combinations of high and low distress and subjective well-being posited by the dual-factor model were found using this inductive statistical method. Importantly, our analysis also revealed two ‘symptomatic but content’ groups, differentiated by symptom domain (internalising/externalising). The covariate analyses between mental health classes and sociodemographic factors, prior academic attainment, school connectedness, and peer support, indicated that there are nuanced relations between those variables and particular constellations of mental distress and well-being. As one of the few dual-factor studies to focus on middle childhood, the current study adds important new evidence that contributes to our understanding of the complexities of mental health among schoolchildren.