Marquez Jose, Lambert Louise, Cutts Megan
Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL UK.
Canadian University Dubai, Dubai, UAE.
Child Indic Res. 2023;16(2):797-836. doi: 10.1007/s12187-022-09993-7. Epub 2022 Nov 23.
Interest in adolescents' wellbeing and mental health is growing worldwide, but little research in this area has been conducted in certain world regions and countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Geographic, socio-demographic and school type differences in adolescent wellbeing and mental health are commonly observed in the field, and the UAE is a diverse country where these types of differences have been found for other outcomes (notably, academic). Yet, no prior national study has explored these differences in terms of wellbeing and mental health in the nation. We address this gap by investigating differences across emirates, gender, socio-economic status, immigrant status, school sector and school curriculum for overall life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, meaning and purpose in life, and internalizing difficulties. We use linear regression to analyse cross-sectional data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study from 2015 and 2018. We find substantial geographic, socio-demographic and school type differences in levels (2018) of wellbeing and mental health -which vary across distinct domains- and declines (2015-2018) of wellbeing. Better wellbeing and mental health are observed in the northern emirates and among boys. Better wellbeing and poorer mental health are observed among nationals (compared to expatriates) and in public schools (compared to private schools). Despite presenting the best academic outcomes, British schools present the worst wellbeing and mental health outcomes. However, results show the absence of a trade-off between academic competence and wellbeing and mental health, with evidence of a small positive association with wellbeing.
全球范围内，对青少年福祉和心理健康的关注与日俱增，但在某些世界地区和国家，如阿拉伯联合酋长国（阿联酋），这一领域的研究却寥寥无几。在该领域，青少年福祉和心理健康方面的地理、社会人口统计学及学校类型差异普遍存在，而阿联酋是一个多元化国家，在其他方面（尤其是学业方面）已发现了这类差异。然而，此前尚无全国性研究探讨该国在福祉和心理健康方面的这些差异。我们通过调查各酋长国、性别、社会经济地位、移民身份、学校部门及学校课程在总体生活满意度、积极情绪、消极情绪、生活意义和目标以及内化困难方面的差异来填补这一空白。我们使用线性回归分析2015年和2018年国际学生评估项目（PISA）研究的横断面数据。我们发现，在福祉和心理健康水平（2018年）方面存在显著的地理、社会人口统计学及学校类型差异——这些差异在不同领域各不相同——以及福祉的下降（2015 - 2018年）。在北部酋长国以及男孩中观察到更好的福祉和心理健康状况。在本国国民中（与外籍人士相比）以及公立学校中（与私立学校相比）观察到更好的福祉和较差的心理健康状况。尽管英国学校呈现出最好的学业成绩，但却有着最差的福祉和心理健康结果。然而，结果表明学业能力与福祉和心理健康之间不存在权衡取舍，有证据显示二者存在微弱的正相关。
