Support From Parents, Peers, and Teachers Is Differently Associated With Middle School Students' Well-Being

Abstract

Parents, peers, and teachers provide a powerful context for school students' well-being. However, a detailed and systematic analysis of how parental, peer, and teacher support relate to students' well-being, measured by the dimensions self-worth, psychological and physical well-being, is still missing. To address this research gap, the following study investigates 733 adolescent German students from grades 7 and 8 (M _age = 13.97, SD = 0.41, 52% girls) with respect to their perceived supportive relationships at home and within the school context. The study considers gender, socioeconomic status, and school form as potential confounders. The results of the structural equation model, analyzed with the statistical software R, indicate that perceived teacher support was positively related to students' self-worth and physical well-being, while peer support was related to psychological well-being. Students who perceived their parents as supportive reported higher well-being with respect to all three dimensions investigated.

Keywords: middle school students; parents; peers; social support; teachers; well-being.

FIGURE 1

Structural equation model for regression analysis, including control variables. Gender: female = 0, male = 1, school type* = contrasts students from low-track and high-track schools with students from mixed-track schools; school type** = contrasts students from low-track and mixed track school with students from high-track schools; coefficients are displayed unstandardized first, and standardized in second position; only significant paths are shown for clarity; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.