The importance of peer relatedness at school for affective well-being in children: Between- and within-person associations

Abstract

Two intensive longitudinal studies examining the association between children's feeling of relatedness to peers at school and their affective well-being were performed. In Study 1, 110 third and fourth graders reported on their positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) 4 times daily and on their peer relatedness once a day over 4 weeks. Multilevel analyses revealed that children who reported higher peer relatedness on average also reported higher PA and lower NA (between-person associations). Moreover, on days when children reported higher peer relatedness than usual, they also reported higher PA, but they did not necessarily report lower NA (within-person associations). In Study 2, 55 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders indicated their PA, NA, and peer relatedness once a day over 2 weeks. We replicated the findings of Study 1 on both levels. The studies showed that feeling related to peers is associated with high PA at school and at home on a daily basis, illustrating the function of peer relatedness in promoting positive well-being. The findings further demonstrated the necessity of intensive longitudinal studies focusing on within-person associations and the importance of measuring both PA and NA in order to capture effects on affective well-being thoroughly.