Exploring and explaining changes in secondary students’ well-being at school: a person-centered approach by applying latent transition analysis

Obermeier R, Hagenauer G, Gläser-Zikuda M (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

Social Psychology of Education Kluwer Academic Publishers

Book Volume: 29

Article Number: 10

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1007/s11218-026-10176-3

Abstract

‘Well-being at school’ is a multidimensional construct whose expression is determined by the cognitive evaluation of student experiences, the affective and physical expressions thereof, and accompanying social phenomena. School well-being is affected by individual and contextual factors. The study aimed to explore whether a classification of students (N = 1343, average age: M = 10.19, SD = 0.48; 80.7% female, 25.7% with a migration biography, 51.5% on the medium educational track) remains stable to several latent profiles at the beginning of secondary school, or whether their profiles change over the course of a school year. A latent transition analysis (LTA) was carried out for this purpose. The results show that the least favourable of the four identified profiles, which has a comparatively higher number of boys and students with a migration biography, is the least stable. Furthermore, the quality of social relationships is associated with more favourable profile transitions: Students who perceive more positive social relationships are more often assigned or transition to profiles that reflect high levels of school well-being. Students’ academic achievement is also associated with the probability of transitioning profiles, although the effects are relatively small and heterogeneous.

Authors with CRIS profile

Michaela Gläser-Zikuda Lehrstuhl für Schulpädagogik mit dem Schwerpunkt empirische Unterrichtsforschung

Involved external institutions

Johannes Kepler Universität (JKU) Linz AT Austria (AT) Universität Salzburg (Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg) AT Austria (AT)

How to cite

APA:

Obermeier, R., Hagenauer, G., & Gläser-Zikuda, M. (2026). Exploring and explaining changes in secondary students’ well-being at school: a person-centered approach by applying latent transition analysis. Social Psychology of Education, 29(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-026-10176-3

MLA:

Obermeier, Ramona, Gerda Hagenauer, and Michaela Gläser-Zikuda. "Exploring and explaining changes in secondary students’ well-being at school: a person-centered approach by applying latent transition analysis." Social Psychology of Education 29.1 (2026).

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