to young people’s dilemmas about staying in Greece or leaving the country. The very high unemployment rates are driving young people to seek graduate education or employment outside Greece, and even secondary school students seem to think a great deal about this issue. “I might leave Greece,” said a 15-year-old boy. Similarly, another student noted:
I want to study, to fulfill my dream but I will try to continue my life in a different place, in another country with better conditions.
Yet, there are others, such as the following state- ment suggests, who think that leaving will not help their country and plan to stay and try their best:
To leave…is bad for your country…if we all start leaving, the country will deteriorate, instead of improving, which means that I personally want to stay and try to do my best in any way I can.
Support
This section presents findings regarding stu- dent perceptions of sources of support and their responses to support. Both primary and secondary school children mentioned interpersonal and per- sonal sources of support that contribute to a sense of well-being and help them cope with stress- ful and difficult situations and events. Among important sources of support were parents, sib- lings, grandparents, friends, teachers, classmates, relatives, the sports coach, professional help, self-help, as well as pets, stuffed animals, holi- day celebrations, and nature, especially the sun and the sea.
Interpersonal Support Students talked about receiving and offering support which took vari- ous forms: (a) the use of body language and expression in order to show affection, console, and share in others’ joy (e.g., hugging, patting on the back, offering a shoulder for the other to cry, touching affectionately); (b) caring, help- ing, reassuring, respecting, (e.g., comforting
71 5 Psychological Well-Being Among Greek Children and Adolescents
with words, listening, advising, understanding, helping the other to express feelings and wor- ries, offering/receiving a gift, telling jokes or even playing the clown to disperse sadness and anxiety); and (c) spending time in each other’s company (e.g., talking, being with a friend/girl- friend) or doing things with a friend or family member (e.g., going to the park/movies, playing video games, soccer). Students also talked about engaging in self-support.
Support-Self Participants mentioned different forms of self-support, that is, supporting or com- forting oneself. Students talked about sitting alone and relaxing, walking alone in the country- side, keeping a diary, getting a sense of personal accomplishment from managing difficult situa- tions, and overcoming obstacles and doing well at school.
Response to Support Students’ accounts revealed that supportive relationships contrib- ute to a sense of joy and well-being that can be expressed in emotional/somatic and behav- ioral ways (e.g., shining face, smiling, laughing, dancing, singing, telling jokes, jumping up and down). Certain students emphasized that a sense of joy makes you “more social” and “willing to participate in everything.” In fact, you “feel more like helping other kids/classmates,” and
“you can even like a child that you did not like before-suddenly you can see (feel) that child as a friend.” The following comments reflect the views of secondary school girls: “It is important that other people can share your joy.” “You try to give the good mood and happiness to your friends.” “Transfer joy to others so that they can feel good.”
Discussion
The present qualitative student-focused research offered the opportunity to capture local phe- nomenology and the diversity of children’s and adolescents’ perspectives and experiences related to well-being, as well as subjective and intersub- jective meanings young people give to stressful
events, coping responses to stress, and sources of support. Greek students’ narratives revealed perspectives and practices that were associated, to a large extent, with broader, more universal constructs that are important for understanding well-being as well as culture-specific themes, patterns, and particularities. Broad constructs in- cluded academic, interpersonal, social, and civic competencies; academic, interpersonal, personal, and economic stressors; coping mechanisms and reactions to stress; and sources of support (Nas- tasi et al., 1998). Overall, students’ accounts reflected a variety of familial, interpersonal, age- and gender-related, and culture-specific ex- pectations, roles, norms, values, and behavior as well as context-specific circumstances which can hinder or enhance psychological health.
In the current study, Greek children and ad- olescents emphasized the value of academic competence which constitutes a dominant cultur- al narrative within the Greek context (Georgas, 1993) and stressed the importance of learning and studying both at school and at home in order to be “good” students. For elementary school children, the image of a “good” student was con- nected to school performance, appropriate and ethical behavior, and relationships. In line with gender expectations, the accounts of schoolgirls reflected more empathy and emphasized the im- portance of good relationships with classmates or the teacher, whereas boys stressed restraining from distracting or hitting classmates within the school setting. Greek students did not attribute good academic performance to internal or stable characteristics (e.g. smart, talented), but stressed the possibility for improvement with necessary efforts, study skills, and behavior.
Secondary school children reported the need for a balanced student life, incorporating both studying and “hanging out” with friends, point- ing out the centrality of academic and interper- sonal competencies, and the particular value of friendship, for psychological well-being. An emphasis on friendship and relationships con- firms the role of peer relationships for this de- velopmental age (Rees, Bradshaw, Goswami, &
Keung, 2009) and is consistent with a dialogic sense of personhood and relational narratives of
life which are predominant within the Greek cul- ture (Issari, 2002; Issari & Anastasiades, 2010).
Along these lines, interpersonal connectedness and interaction were reported not only as major sources of joy, fun, support, and caring (e.g., spending time together, playing, helping, for- giving, making each other happy, and sharing in each other’s joy) but also as sources of stress and adverse feelings.
The school environment, as a context of learn- ing, plays an important role in children’s social, emotional, and behavioral well-being (Hatzi- christou, 2011a, b, c, d; Lampropoulou, 2008, 2009). For boys, learning in primary school has the strongest influence on behavioral aspects of later well-being, whereas for girls it is more predictive of social well-being (Gutman, Brown, Akerman, & Obolenskaya, 2010).
Sources of anxiety, distress, and negative feel- ings affecting well-being, reported in the current study, included a lack or loss of good friends or problems and difficulties in relationships with classmates, peers, siblings, parents, or teachers (e.g., scolding, criticisms and negative opinions, or parental prohibitions when perceived as limits to freedom and autonomy). Arguments and fric- tion among parents and family discord also were serious concerns for primary and elementary school children in our study.
Similarly, disputes, aggressive behavior, gos- siping, being mocked, or excluded by peers and classmates contributed to negative feelings and reactions, as reported in other research (Hatzi- christou, Polychroni, Issari, & Yfanti, 2012;
Issari & Printezi, 2011; Yfanti, 2013). In a dis- sertation study conducted in secondary schools in Greece, Yfanti (2013) examined individual and contextual variables in relation to types of victimization. Well-being was one of the main factors that showed a statistically significant negative correlation with all three types of vic- timization (physical, relational, sexual). Also, students involved in relational aggressive be- haviors both as aggressors and victims showed lower levels of well-being than students who were not involved in relational aggressive be- haviors or were only involved as victims.
In the current study, emotional responses to stressors were anxiety and fear in relation to exams, and fear, shame or sadness regarding poor school performance and bad grades or in failing to fulfill parental and teacher expectations. Stu- dents reported homework, which constitutes a major component of the Greek education, as a major stressor-provoking pressure and anxiety.
Homework in combination with out-of-school activities in the afternoon (e.g., foreign lan- guage, dance, or music lessons) absorb a sub- stantial amount of time and leave less room for unstructured activities and play. Another source of pressure is related to the Greek educational system’s requirement is that students choose a college major and career orientation while still in high school. Such a task has become increasingly more difficult in today’s economic uncertainty.
Other important stressors reported by students were the lack of responsible behaviors exhibited by politicians, fairness, justice, and issues related to the current economic/social crisis. Overall, older students’ accounts not only reflected po- litical awareness and maturity but also anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and disappointment in view of the present economic conditions. Students in our sample sounded very upset and angry with poli- ticians and clearly expressed concern for their own future as well as the future of Greece. While certain students reported that they were afraid to dream and make plans for the future, others raised important dilemmas on whether to stay in Greece or leave for opportunities elsewhere.
Such dilemmas have become quite common among Greek youth in recent years (Chapple, 2012). Consistent with findings of this study, re- search on the school community (Hatzichristou, Adamopoulou, & Lampropoulou, 2014) showed that children and families with economic diffi- culties experience feelings of fear, distress, and sorrow in relation to their lives and future. Within the same study, schoolteachers also reported an increase of difficulties in children’s interpersonal and intrapersonal behavior related to family in- come reduction.
In our study, children’s accounts stressed the interpersonal dimension of well-being and
73 5 Psychological Well-Being Among Greek Children and Adolescents
portrayed friends, family, and teachers as impor- tant sources of support. Peers, especially friends, are a valuable support for adolescents. For boys, sharing interests/activities with friends were im- portant; for girls, sharing the same feelings (em- pathy) was important. In addition, romantic re- lationships seemed to positively and negatively influence the psychological well-being of girls.
Other research has shown a significant correla- tion between positive well-being indicators and relationships with peers. Support from peers is a significant protective factor for depression, facilitates school and family adjustment (Hann, 2005), and is associated with positive subjective well-being (Levitt et al., 1994; Rothman & Cos- den, 1995).
Parents and family seem to be an important re- source and stressor for adolescents in this study.
On the one hand, parents support, advise, and guide adolescents as role models but, on the other hand, they limit and restrict their freedom. Es- pecially for girls, being independent and having freedom to do things is a source of happiness and distress. A Greek survey that aimed to examine the association between children’s and parents’
psychological well-being revealed that psycho- logical well-being was related to fathers’ per- ceived stress and mothers’ satisfaction with life (Karademas, 2009). According to other studies that focused on determining children and young people’s own views of well-being, family was found to be fundamentally important to a sense of well-being for children and young people (Coun- terpoint Research, 2008). Along these lines, we consider that young children and their families can count on strong intergenerational family ties and solidarity to get help, as child-based social services and resources become more and more scarce in times of economic crisis. Within the Greek context, family (Georgas, 1993) and in- formal networks of help (church, neighbors, self-help and charity initiatives) are important resources during difficult times and crises situa- tions (Hatzichristou, Issari, Lykitsakou, Lampro- poulou, & Dimitropoulou, 2011).
Related to relationships with teachers, ado- lescents expect teachers not only to be sup- portive in academic/school matters but also in
social–emotional issues. These findings are con- sistent with findings reported in the literature. For instance, Lampropoulou (2008) found that Greek adolescents value teachers who care about them and have a relationship with students beyond les- sons. At the school level, the results indicated that the subjective well-being of younger adolescents (first- and second-grade junior high school stu- dents, aged from 13 to 14 years old) was directly related with their relationships with teachers and school climate, while the subjective well-being of older adolescents (second- and third-grade high school students, aged from 17 to 18 years old) was related to their relationships with class- mates and friends and classroom’s psychological climate.
Research has shown that students’ perceptions of increased social support results in higher scores on indicators related to performance, behavior, and social and emotional development (Dema- ray & Malecki, 2002). These researchers found a significant correlation between children’s posi- tive perceptions regarding support from parents, teachers, classmates, and friends, and children’s social skills as reported by both the children and their significant others. Moreover, research con- firms the importance of perceived support from teachers for the well-being of adolescents (De- Santis, Huebner, & Suldo, 2006).
More recently, special emphasis has been given to the promotion of resilience and posi- tive school climate in schools responding to the increased psychosocial needs caused by the present circumstances. A synthetic approach to school community well-being has been proposed by Hatzichristou, Lykitsakou, Lampropoulou, and Dimitropoulou (2010b), and core concepts of school mental health related to this model include resilience, effective schools, schools as caring communities, social and emotional learn- ing, and evidence-based interventions (Hatzi- christou, 2011a, b, c; Hatzichristou et al., 2010b;
Hatzichristou, Dimitropoulou, Lykitsakou, &
Lampropoulou, 2009). This conceptual model for promoting school community well-being also has integrated the basic dimensions of a crisis intervention model for the school community (Hatzichristou et al., 2011).
Primary prevention programs and interven- tions were developed and implemented by the Center for Research and Practice in School Psychology, University of Athens, based on the described multilevel approach that com- bines the important parameters of the school well-being model with the dimensions of the crisis intervention model, placing an emphasis on promoting resilience and positive school climate (Hatzichristou et al., 2011). These pro- grams have already been implemented in Greek schools at national and international level.
Teachers’ and students’ evaluations suggest that the programs were highly successful in meeting their goals (Hatzichristou, 2012, 2013; Hatzi- christou & Adamopoulou, 2013a, b; Hatzichris- tou et al., 2014).
As economic crises are global concerns for most educational systems worldwide, a transnational model is necessary that takes into consideration the common and diverse needs of children and systems (common and culture-spe- cific needs and adversities) and builds on posi- tive potential, competencies, and strengths as a means of enhancing resilience and well-being at an individual (student, teacher) and system level (classroom, school) (Hatzichristou et al., 2014).
In all, understanding universal and culture-spe- cific competencies, stressors, supports, and cop- ing responses from the child’s view is important to inform research and practice in school psycho- logical services and develop prevention programs to promote and foster lifelong well-being for children and adolescents through interpersonal and ecological change.
For as it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a human being happy.
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics, 1098a18)
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