Friendship and Happiness in Middle Childhood: A Comparative Study Between Children to Attend State and Private Schools.

CAROLINA GRECO

Edmonton, Canada

Congreso; ISSBD 2012. Edmonton, Canadá; 2012

University of Alberta

Abstract This empirical study seeks to contribute to the generation of scientific knowledge about children´s mental health promotion in pursuit of a functional development during childhood. It is likely that children who find it difficult to develop relationships with their peers and/or who are rejected by them exhibit aggressive behavior and negative emotions like sadness and depression; while children who are accepted by their peers develop bonds of friendship, experiencing positive emotions that foster their well-being (Bukowski and Sippola, 2005; Newcomb, Bukowski and Pattee, 1993).Taking into account the different situations experienced by children from poverty-stricken areas and children living under better socio-economic conditions, it is intriguing to compare bonds of friendship and happiness in children from these two different contexts, that is to say, children attending state schools in poor urban area and children attending private schools located in downtown, in Mendoza, Argentina. The specific goals that define this study are: (i) to evaluate happiness experienced by children attending state schools in poor urban area and by children attending private schools located in downtown; (ii) to evaluate how deep friendship is in both groups; (iii) compare friendship and happiness in both groups Considering bonds of friendship and positive emotions for policy-making can contribute significantly to children´s mental health promotion. Sample: 200 eight-year-old children in all, 100 children attending state schools in slum areas and 100 children attending private schools located in Mendoza capital city (Argentina). Design: This study is non-experimental, cross-sectional and comparative study. Instruments: happiness Scale (Oros, 2008); interview focusing on situations that arouse greater happiness (Greco, 2006); assessment of socio-cultural. Data analysis: descriptive and statistical data, analysis of variance, T-test and content analysis technique for narrative. Programme SPSS 11 5 will be employed. The results have showed difference in both group from private and state schools so It is important to discuss the interaction of context in socio- emotional developmen