The study is made by Arto k. Ahonen in Rovaniemi as a part of the ArctiChildren project. The aim was to recognize and evaluate the development needs of psychosocial well-being in the participating school communities of the Barents Region.
1398 respondents in the age groups from 13 to 15 from 27 schools participated in the survey, and the results were compared with the four countries national level data collected as a part of the Health and Behavior of School-aged Children (HBSC).
The pupils in the north reported suffering less from psychosomatic symptoms compared to the Barents countries in general. Northern children spends more time with their friends, and are getting more support from their school mates than pupils in the south, Arto K. Ahonen writes in his doctoral theses.
The study shows there was a clear difference in pupil’s life satisfaction; pupils in the Barents Region were more satisfied with their lives when compared with southern youth.
The explanatory analyses in the ArctiChildren data showed that there were differentiated structures in explaining life and school satisfaction, and that all categories of well-being had an impact.
The importance of the school atmosphere was great; the other pupils’ and teachers’ support and schoolwork causing pressure were closely related to it, especially in Finland, Norway and Sweden. These are key areas of school culture and everyday work and are therefore essential to pay attention to and take into serious consideration in every school, Ahonen writes in his theses.
Read more about the study at the portal University of Lapland (only in Finnish).