Determining Holistic Child Well-being: Critical Reflections on Theory and Dominant Models

Päivi Marjanen (), Abigail Ornellas and Laura Mäntynen
Additional contact information
Päivi Marjanen: Laurea University of Applied Sciences
Abigail Ornellas: Stellenbosch University
Laura Mäntynen: Laurea University of Applied Sciences

Child Indicators Research, 2017, vol. 10, issue 3, No 3, 633-647

Abstract: Abstract The concept of child well-being has been receiving growing attention within policy, academic research and literature. However, a precise definition of the concept of ‘well-being’ is problematic and continues to be debated and discussed within various scientific fields. A number of international studies and models have highlighted selected indicators as being necessary in the measuring of well-being in children, and have served as international definitions and standards for child and family policy development. Yet, these models show differences in the indicators, which they recognize as being significant. In this article, the authors will attempt to reflect upon the following questions: What indicators are the dominant international models of child well-being highlighting as important? What type of theoretical approaches do these models represent? Are there gaps between the indicators presented in these models and those raised as important in theory? The aim is to reflect upon and establish a critical dialogue around what are considered to be the most important indicators for measuring child well-being, and whether these indicators represent a holistic and multidimensional approach to child well-being, as outlined in literature. This will be done through an analysis of what the authors deemed as the dominant international models used to measure and define child well-being; the key indicators recognized through these models as being important; and reflections and discussions against a theoretical backdrop.

Keywords: Child well-being; International research; Indicator research; Holistic well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12187-016-9399-6 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:chinre:v:10:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s12187-016-9399-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... f-life/journal/12187

DOI: 10.1007/s12187-016-9399-6

Access Statistics for this article

Child Indicators Research is currently edited by Asher Ben-Arieh

More articles in Child Indicators Research from Springer, The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().