Academic Expectations and Well-Being in School Children

Abstract

The current study aimed to explore health behaviour, quality of life and well-being in older children in relation to social background, parental academic socialisation and academic expectation stress, and the role of emerging constructs of self-compassion and psychological capital as potential protective factors. A survey was administered to a sample of 373 children (150 males and 223 females) aged between 11 and 15 years. Children were assessed on academic expectations stress, home and social background, parenting experience, psychological capital, self-compassion, health behaviour, well-being and quality of life. Academic expectation stress was inversely predictive of well-being and quality of life and through its impact on self-compassion and psychological capital, to health behaviour. Findings from this study would suggest that positive psychology interventions to build self-compassion and psychological capital may be efficacious in reducing the negative impact of academic expectation stress in children.