engleski

Relations between students individual characteristics, fear of school and somatic complaints

The main goal of this study was to explore the relations of students’ individual characteristics (self-esteem, emotional control, social and organizational skills), fear of school, and somatic complaints. The aim was also to examine gender and age differences in self-esteem, emotional control, social and organizational skills, fear of school and somatic complaints. The sample included 4999 fifth- to eight grade primary school students from 49 schools. The participants completed self-report measures assessing their self-esteem, emotional control, social and organizational skills, fear of school and somatic complaints. Analyses of variance showed that girls generally rated that they had better social, but worse organizational skills than boys. Girls also expressed greater fear of school and more somatic complaints then boys. Interaction effect of gender and age was significant only for fear of school. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted with fear of school and somatic complaints as criterion variables, and students’ gender, age, and individual characteristics as predictors. Students’ fear of school could be best explained by their self-esteem and emotional control while students’ somatic complaints could be best explained by their self-esteem and social skills. In addition, students who expressed greater fear of school had more somatic complaints. After controlling for students’ individual characteristics, fear of school was significant predictor of somatic complaints. The results are discussed in relation to importance of developing students’ individual strengths in reducing their fear of school and somatic complaints.

self-esteem; emotional control; social skills; fear of school; somatic complaints

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