Child Well-Being and Children’s Rights: Balancing Positive and Negative Indicators in Assessments

Abstract

This chapter includes five sections that examine core issues related to children's well-being rights as articulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereaf-ter referred to as the Convention; UN General Assembly, 1989). The first section addresses the importance of ensuring that all children are given the opportunity to provide input to assessments of their well-being and that comprehensive well-being assessments incorporate negative and positive indicators of well-being. The second section presents a conceptual framework for organizing child well-being research that incorporates key elements of the Convention. The third section addresses the notion that respect for children's rights implies that the most useful assessments of child well-being require additional measures of core, malleable social and psychological assets and risk factors that are known to be associated with child well-being. This perspective is based on the principle that monitoring systems should provide actionable information about each child that informs access to well-being enhancing support services and resources. In addition, an overview of the dual-factor model of mental health is used to illustrate a specific approach to measuring well-being that incorporates negative and positive indicators. The fourth section provides guidance for school psychologists on how to infuse well-being assessments into their professional practice and thereby advocate for children's rights. The fifth section concludes with a discussion of how the adoption of a holistic model of youth development, consistent with the Convention, offers school psychologists the opportunity to provide services that facilitate the well-being of all children.