4-6 year-Old Children’s Experience of Subjective Well-Being and Social Relations in ECEC Institutions

The purpose of the study is to form an overview of children’s perspectives on everyday life in kindergartens. The aim is to investigate what promotes/prevents children’s well-being in light of their social relationships with other children and employees in kindergarten. The research question was: How do children experience social relationships with other children and employees in kindergarten, and how is this related to their overall subjective well-being?

The results indicate that children’s relationships, both with other children and the educators, are especially important for their well-being.

The participants were identified and recruited from what used to be called Sør-Trøndelag County. To ensure as much variation as possible, the selected institutions were randomised, but criteria were used to ensure a certain amount of variation. A total of 17 institutions were recruited and identified. An electronic questionnaire was used to collect data from the children. In total, 171 children were included in the survey, of which 51.5% were girls and 48.5% were boys. The questionnaire was a semi-structured interview that was completed by the researchers in dialogue with the children. The questions were about the children’s own perceptions of their everyday life in kindergarten.

Sandseter, E. B. H. & Seland, M. (2018). «4-6 year-Old Children’s Experience of Subjective Well-Being and Social Relations in ECEC Institutions». Child Indicators Research 11(5):1585-1601.