Young children’s subjective well-being in a changing cultural context

1. Young children’s subjective well-being in a changing cultural context CHILDREN’S WELL-BEING AND THE MEDIA IN CULTURAL AND SOCIETAL CONTEXT -RESEARCH GROUP Leader Anja Riitta Lahikainen, co-reseacrhers Inger Kraav, Kari Tolonen, Merle Taimalu, Piia Korhonen, Juulia Paavonen, Satu Valkonen, Mira Roine, Jukka Partanen University of Tampere, Finland

2. Basic hypothesis • Children’s subjective well-being is too complex a phenomenon to be reduced to any set of family financial or social resources

3. Problems of definition and selected approach to subjective well-being • Lack of theory and lack of cross-disciplinary discussion and research • This study integrates different disciplinary approaches and offers a comparative analysis of well-being at the system and individual level

4. Basic characteristics of subjective well-being • Variablility: it must be actively and continuously maintained • Social and symbolic interactivity: it is produced and reproduced in social relationships • Contextuality: contexts provide and change opportunities for action and interaction

5. Assessment of subjective well-being based on experiences of insecurity • Relative absence of feelings of insecurity • Relative absence of autonomy as a source of feelings of insecurity • Relative absence of security engenders helplessness

6. Expressions of insecurity/security Lack on security finds expression in • worries • fears • psychosomatic symtoms Security finds expression in • exploration • secure relationships

7. Family as a provider of subjective well-being and as a threat Basic institution that regulates subjective well-being because • Family members are the basic network relationships in child’s everyday life • Responsibility for children is legally delegated to the child’s parents

8. Data • Interviewdata of 421 5-6 year-old children and questionnaires to parents • 1993/1994 2002/2003 • Finland 105 109 • Estonia 115 91 net sample sizes of random samples

9. Steps to create contact with child

10. Interview process Structure of the interview Motivation of the child *Introduction -positioning the child as informant: *thank the child (verbal and “I came to interview you because we nonverbal) adults do not know what it is like to be a child *encourage the child nowadays” *show acceptance in other ways *Key questions - • Social network • Who belongs to your family • Who are other important persons “Who are your important persons?” *repeat child’s answers: show Child places his/her important persons in you have listened to him/her target diagram: the child him/herself in the *emphasize child’s significant middle, other persons on circles around the status as informant nucleus. The closer to the nucleus the person,*create peaceful atmosphere the closer he/she is to the child. - fears *follow the child’s own rhythm; “All people are afraid of something, even if the child is shy, for example, adults. But I don’t know what you are afraid give him/her as much time as of. I would be very interested to know” he/she needs. -TV “Have you learned something from television that you wouldn't otherwise have learned?”

11. Assessment of subjective well-being; child interview • Fears, five factor-based variables • Social network characteristics; importance of different groups of people, x sum-variables

12. Assessment of subjective well-being: parents as informants • Child’s behaviour orientations (7) • Child’s worries (3) • Child’s psychosomatic symptoms (2) 12 factor-based indicators

13. Assessment of family well-being • Dissatisfaction with family’s financial situation • Parental strains • Parental health problems • Drinking problems Factor based indicators

14. Subjective well-being of 5-6 year-old children in Finland and Estonia in 1993/94 and in 2002/03Psychosomatic symptoms P(country)= 0.00 P(country)=0.00 P(year)= 0.03

15. Subjective well-being of 5-6 year-old children in Finland and Estonia in 1993/94 and in 2002/03Worries

16. Subjective well-being of 5-6 year-old children in Finland and Estonia in 1993/94 and in 2002/03Behavioral orientations P(country)= 0.01

17. Behavioral orientations (continued) P(country)= 0.00

18. Behavioral orientations (continued) P(country)= 0.00 P(year)= 0.00

19. Subjective well-being of 5-6-year old children in Finland and Estonia in 1993/94 and in 2002/03: Child-reported fears p(country)= 0.01 p(year)=0.05

20. Subjective well-being of 5-6 year-old children in Finland and Estonia in 1993/94 and in 2002/03: Networks P(country)= 0.00 P(country x year)= 0.03 P(country x year)= 0.00 P(year)= 0.01

21. Networks (continued)

22. Family stress of 5-6 year-old children in Finland and Estonia in 1993/94 and 2002/03 P(country)= 0,00 P(year)= 0.00 P(country)= 0.00 P(country)= 0.00 P(country)= 0.01 P(country x year)= 0.03

23. Financial problems and subjective well-being of child(corr.)

24. Parental strains and subjective well-being of child (corr.)

25. Parental health problems and subjective well-being of child (corr.)

26. Drinking problems and subjective well-being of child (corr.)

27. Summary of results 1 • Both indicators of subjective well-being and family well-being differentiate children’s well-being in Estonia and Finland • Both parents and children differentiate children’s well-being in Estonia and Finland

28. Summary of results, 2 • Children’s subjective well-being is associated with the family’s financial stress, parental strains, parents’ health and drinking problems • Differents aspects of subjective well-being are differently sensitive to indicators of family stress • Social change is connected with both qualitative and quantitative changes in subjective well-being

29. Summary of results,3 • Broad scale of indicators of subjective well-being is needed • Indicators should be theory-based • More attention should be given to the different aspects of subjective well-being in addition to quantitative assessments