Although the previous research on well-being has predominantly focused on the well-being of adults, in recent years the focus has shifted to the well-being of children and young adolescents. Facilitating students’ well-being at early stages of life forms a basis for their future well-being as adults (Rees et al., 2012). Not only does students’ well-being contribute to their engagement, enjoyment, and academic achievement in school, but it also helps to escalate the process of becoming self-directed life-long learners and responsible citizens (Noble & McGrath, 2016). Therefore, understanding students’ well-being is crucial to creating an appropriate educational environment for effective student functioning. To address this issue, the present study investigated the development of student well-being among primary and secondary school students. So far, there is the apparant lack of longitudinal research examining the developmental trends of student well-being at different stages of child development. In accordance with the stage-environment fit theory (e.g., Eccles & Gootman, 2002) and research on academic motivation and student engagement (Gottfried, Fleming, & Gottfried, 2001), we expected that secondary school students would show lower well-being compared to primary school students, due to considerable social, physical, cognitive, emotional changes associated with early adolescence as well as changes in environmental conditions. We also investigated the possible effects of gender and a migration background on student well-being. The present study employed the data from the longitudinal research project “School Alienation in Switzerland and Luxembourg” (SASAL, 2015–2019). The sample included 406 primary school students (46.3% male; Mage t1 = 10.3 years [SD = .99]; t1: grade 4, t2: grade 5, t3: grade 6) and 403 secondary school students (44.3% male; Mage t1 = 13.0 years [SD = .54]; t1: grade 7, t2: grade 8, t3: grade 9) from the Swiss canton of Bern. Student well-being, including six distinct dimensions, was assesses with the 19-item student well-being questionnaire (Hascher, 2007). The findings suggested that student well-being decreases as students move from primary to secondary education that could be explained by a misfit between adolescents’ needs and their school environments (Archambault et al., 2009). Significant differences were also found across gender and between students with and without a migration background. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind student well-being and particularly vulnerable areas at different developmental stages that is crucial to creating an appropriate educational environment for positive student functioning and designing pertinent classroom interventions.

Archambault, I., Janosz, M., Morizot, J., & Pagani, L. (2009). Adolescent behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement in school: Relationship to dropout. Journal of School Health, 79, 408–415. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2009.00428.x Eccles, J., & Gootman, J. A. (2002). Community programs to promote youth development. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10022 Gottfried, A. E., Fleming, J. S., & Gottfried, A. W. (2001). Continuity of academic intrinsic motivation from childhood through late adolescence: A longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 3–13. Hascher, T. (2007). Exploring students’ well-being by taking a variety of looks into the classroom. Hellenic Journal of Psychology, 4, 331–349. Noble, T., & McGrath, H. (2016). The PROSPER School Pathways for Student Wellbeing: Policy and Practices. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13612-015-0030-2 Rees, G., Goswami, H., Pople, L., Bradshaw, J., Keung, A., & Main, G. (2012). The good childhood report 2012: A review of our children’s well-being. London: The Children’s Society.