Correlates of Preadolescent Emotional Health in 18 Countries. A Study Using Children’s Words Data

Giving the rapid changes in physical development, behaviour and relationships with others, preadolescents are at risk of developing emotional problems. It is important to address these problems not only from the perspective of preadolescents’ mental health, but also from a boarder perspective, investigating the impact of individual and social determinants of their positive emotions. Emotional health, a dimension of emotional well-being, is the ability to understand, accept and manage emotions, feelings for oneself and others. The paper aims to identify the impact of individual characteristics and social factors on emotional health of preadolescents. We conducted secondary data analysis on data from second wave of the International Survey of Children’s Well-Being (ISCWeB). Using a linear sequential multiple regression model, we investigate the impact of individual and social factors on the emotional health of preadolescents from 18 countries. Results show that preadolescents` emotional well-being is mainly determined by gender, age, presence of parents in the household, family and school climate. However, cultural and socio-economic determinants should not be ignored, due to significant differences registered at intergroup level regarding the emotional health of children.