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Ecological Levels of Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Young People

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Abstract

This paper reports on the social and emotional well-being (SEWB) of 66,767 young people (grades 2–12) in Australia enrolled in 404 government/state, independent and Catholic schools who completed the ACER Social-Emotional Well-Being Surveys between 2003 and 2014. Based on the Rasch measurement methodology, an ecological model of SEWB was described on a continuum on which five qualitatively distinct SEWB levels were identified: Low, Emerging, Developing, Highly Developed and Very Highly Developed. Details of the different aspects of the external (school, home and community) and internal strengths (social, emotional, learning skills; values) as well as the feelings and behaviors that characterize each level of SEWB are described. Implications of these findings for program planning for young people with mental health problems and recommendations for future research conclude the paper.

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Correspondence to Michael E. Bernard.

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Bernard, M.E., Stephanou, A. Ecological Levels of Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Young People. Child Ind Res 11, 661–679 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-017-9466-7

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