Study sheds light on schoolchildren’s wellbeing

Immigrant children and pupils with special needs have poorer self-image than others, research on children’s wellbeing has found.

The study was conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) research professor Emer Smyth. It examined various aspects of how children view themselves at the ages of nine and again at 13.

They were asked about their happiness, how they get on with school work, whether they feel anxious, how popular they are, and how they feel about their appearance and behaviour.

The findings based on information for the long-running ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ study show that children’s social background is not as strong an influence on their self-image as on their educational achievement, an area in which gaps continue between those coming from poorer and better-off homes.

However, Prof Smyth found that the nine-year-old children of immigrant families see themselves as less popular, less happy and more anxious, report poorer behaviour, and more self-critical of their academic abilities and body image than those from Irish families.

She reported the most striking influence of individual background related to having a special educational need.

Although there was no significant difference in self-image between those with physical disabilities and their peers, there was a marked difference for those with learning disabilities or emotional-behavioural difficulties.

“Children with a special educational need are negative about themselves across all of the sub-scales of self-image and these differences from their peers are substantial in size,” said Prof Smyth.