1. Life events and children’s subjective well- being Larissa Pople The Children’s Society International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

2. Life events International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

3. Background and research aims Existing evidence suggests that adverse life events are linked to lower SWB for children. Our research confirms that children’s SWB has both static and dynamic components. We wanted to explore: How important life events are for children’s SWB and in comparison to other factors (e.g. socio-demographic, personality etc) The role of internal/external buffers (e.g. self-esteem, sense of control, wealth & supportive relationships) International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

4. 2008 survey: life events Our 2008 national well-being survey of 7,000 10 to 15- year-olds found a number of links between life events and SWB. Well-being was significantly lower among CYP reporting: Being bullied Changes in family structure Changes in home, school and local area (but these differences were small) International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

5. 2008 survey: bullying “How often, if at all, have you been bullied in the last year?” International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

6. 2008 survey: family change “Were you living with the same adults this time last year?” International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

7. 2010 survey: 20 life events Our 2010-11 survey included 20 new questions about life events. These were put to 2,400 10 to 15-year-olds and asked about positive/negative events relating to: School Friendships Outside of school/neighbourhood Response categories: “Has not happened” “Happened once” “Happened more than once” “Not sure” International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

8. 2010 survey: positive events International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 Positive eventsHappened (at all) Gender differences (More likely to happen to..) You got a really good mark in a test or exam92%Boy You did really well at an activity at school (like sport, music, drama, etc) 91%NS You got praised by a teacher90%Girl You made a new friend88%NS You did really well at an activity outside school (like sport, music, drama) 81%NS You got an award or prize for something you did at school 71%NS

9. 2010 survey: negative events at school International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 Negative events at schoolHappened (at all) Gender differences (More likely to happen to..) You got told off by a teacher86%Boy You got a really bad mark in a test or exam*73%Girl You got into trouble at school70%Boy You felt treated unfairly by a teacher68%Boy You did really badly at an activity at school (like sport, music, drama)* 53%NS You got a detention50%Boy

10. 2010 survey: negative events outside school or with friends International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 Negative events relating to friendships or outside school Happened (at all) Gender differences (More likely to happen to..) A close friend had a serious problem*64%NS You had a serious argument with a close friend64%NS A friend that you trusted did not keep a secret64%Girl You stopped being friendly with a close friend52%Girl You broke up with a boyfriend/girlfriend45%Boy You were pressured by friends to do something you did not want to do 40%Boy You were bullied or picked on by other young people38%NS You felt treated unfairly by an adult in your neighbourhood 34%Boy

11. 2010 survey: changes at school, home and within the family International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 Questions included in 2008 surveyHappened (at all) Gender differences (More likely to happen to..) You moved house in the past year18%NS You moved local area in the past year10%Girl You changed school in the past year9%Girl You were living with different adults this time last year 9%NS

12. 2010 survey: gender differences International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

13. 2010 survey: gender differences International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

14. 2010 survey: age differences International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 Life eventAge differences (More likely to happen to…) You were bullied or picked on by other young peopleYear 6s (aged 10 & 11) You got an award or prize for something you did at schoolYear 6s (aged 10 & 11) You were pressured by friends to do something you did not want to Year 6s (aged 10 & 11) You got a detentionYear 10s (aged 14 & 15) You got into trouble at schoolYear 10s (aged 14 & 15) You got a really bad mark in a test or examYear 10s (aged 14 & 15)

15. 2010 survey: age differences International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

16. 2010 survey: age differences International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

17. 2010 survey: age differences International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

18. 2010 survey: age differences International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

19. 2010 survey: age differences International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

20. 2010 survey: age differences International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

21. 2010 survey: correlations between life events and SWB International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 Life eventSpearman’s rho You did really badly at an activity at school (like sport, music, drama etc)-.245** You felt treated unfairly by a teacher-.237** You got a really bad mark in a test or exam-.221** You stopped being friendly with a close friend-.220** You felt treated unfairly by an adult in your neighbourhood-.211** A close friend had a serious problem-.207** You were pressured by friends to do something you did not want to do-.199** You were bullied or picked on by other young people-.194** You got a detention-.186** You had a serious argument with a close friend-.185**

22. 2010 survey:correlations between life events and SWB International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 Life eventSpearman’s rho You got an award or prize for something you did at school.181** A friend that you trusted did not keep a secret-.176** You did really well at an activity at school (like sport, music, drama etc).167** You did really well at an activity outside school (like sport, music, drama etc).152** You got into trouble at school-.146** You broke up with a boyfriend/girlfriend-.146** You got told off by a teacher-.143** You got praised by a teacher.142** You got a really good mark in a test or exam.131** You made a new friend NS

23. 2010 survey: correlations between life changes and SWB International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 ChangeSpearman’s rho Were you living with the same adults this time last year?-0.129** Have you changed school in the past year?-0.074** Did you live in the same local area a year ago as you do now?-0.063** Have you moved house in the past year?-0.041**

24. 2010 survey: life events with greatest differences in SWB International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 “You were pressured by friends to do something you did not want to do”

25. 2010 survey: life events with greatest differences in SWB International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 “You felt treated unfairly by an adult in your neighbourhood”

26. 2010 survey: life events with greatest differences in SWB International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 “You stopped being friendly with a close friend”

27. 2010 survey: factor analysis Factor analysis identified four separate factors: 1. All the positive events The negative events relating to: 2. Friends, bullying and adults in the neighbourhood 3. Getting into trouble at school 4. Doing badly at school International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 We combined these two factors

28. 2010 survey: regression analysis International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011 FactorBetaSignificance Age-0.0920.001 Gender0.1300.000 Positive events0.3200.000 Negative events at school-0.2120.000 Negative events with friends & outside school -0.2360.000 Adjusted r 2 0.207

29. Conclusions Our research confirms that life events - particularly negative events - at school, outside school, at home and with friends are associated with children’s SWB. Some, but not all, of the life events that we explored had significant age and gender profiles. Further research: The links between personality and life events Explore other life events, and in different areas of children’s lives The role of internal/external buffers in mediating the impact of life events International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011

30. Life events and children’s subjective well- being Larissa Pople The Children’s Society International Society for Child Indicators Conference, 27 th July 2011