Adolescents’ psychological well-being and self-esteem in the context of relationships at school

Background: The school environment has shown itself to be an important factor in explaining adolescent behaviour. The relationships and experiences that pupils have at school have been found to influence their development, psychological well-being, self-esteem and social adjustment.Purpose: The aim of the study is to explore whether there is a relationship between pupil–peer and pupil–teacher relationships and psychological well-being and self-esteem, and whether this relationship varies according to pupils’ experience of bullying or being bullied.Sample: Data consisted of a sample of 3694 students (mean age ± SD 14.3 ± 0.62 years; 51% girls) from elementary schools in Slovakia.Design and method: Questionnaires were administered to the students. In terms of data analysis, linear regression was firstly used in the whole sample to explore pupil–peer and pupil–teacher relationships and psychological well-being (the depression/anxiety and social dysfunction subscales of GHQ-12) and self-esteem (positive and n...