Emotional well-being and self-control skills of children and adolescents: The Israeli perspective

Abstract

Emotional well-being (EWB) is defined in terms of feeling good and energetic (i.e., positive affect and happiness). EWB is of cardinal importance for social and academic development and is not viewed as the obverse of mental illness and negative feelings. We trace and explain the reduction of EWB from early childhood to adulthood as a function of changing socialization practices and of life goals (i.e., from hedonic present to future hedonic goals). The role of self-control skills and social factors in enhancing children's and adolescents' EWB is explicated. We describe the dynamic triad that links self-control, EWB, and social relationship. Each of these processes is assumed to be reciprocally influenced and shaped by each other. In our studies with adolescents, we have found that the more they have self-control skills, the higher is their EWB, and both factors develop in the context of social relationship. The strength of the relationship among these factors is in part a function of sociocultural factors.