Grace Skrzypiec, Helen Askell-Williams, Phillip Slee and Adrian Rudzinski—Flinders University
This study explores the social, emotional and psychological well-being of International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) students. A mixed method design was used to address the research questions, including measures that provide an indication of students’ flourishing; social, emotional and psychological well-being; empathy; global self-concept; reflection; resilience; relationships; school satisfaction; and mental ill-health. The results suggested that just over half (54.1%) of MYP students had a sense of well-being “almost every day” or “every day” and were therefore flourishing. The researchers found that over half (60.1%) of MYP students were experiencing a positive outlook and just over half (52.4%) were experiencing a positive emotional state “quite a lot” or “all of the time”. The measures of student satisfaction indicated that most MYP students were happy (approximately 70%) and satisfied (approximately 80%) with school. Females in the upper years of the MYP tended to have the lowest scores on measures of positive outlook, a positive emotional state, global self-concept, relationships and resilience. The results found that, except for females aged 14–16, MYP students did not differ significantly from the Australian norms for mental health difficulties.
