This study explored the associations between adolescents’ assertive behavior, psychological well‐being, and self‐esteem. The sample consisted of 1,023 students (14.9 ± .51; 47.6% boys). Two dimensions of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (distress and performance), 2 factors of the General Health Questionnaire‐12 (depression/anxiety and social dysfunction), and 2 factors of the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale (positive self‐esteem and negative self‐esteem) were used; data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression. It was found that (a) the more anxious respondents felt in assertive situations, the less frequently they engaged in these situations; and that (b) both dimensions of assertiveness were associated with psychological well‐being and self‐esteem.

Background:The school environment has shown itself to be an important factor in explaining adolescent behaviour. The relationships and experiences that pupils have at school have been found to influence their development, psychological well-being, self-esteem and social adjustment. Purpose: The aim of the study is to explore whether there is a relationship between pupil-peer and pupil-teacher relationships and psychological well-being and self-esteem, and whether this relationship varies according to pupils' experience of bullying or being bullied. Sample: Data consisted of a sample of 3694 students (mean age ± SD 14.3 ± 0.62 years; 51% girls) from elementary schools in Slovakia. Design and method: Questionnaires were administered to the students. In terms of data analysis, linear regression was firstly used in the whole sample to explore pupil-peer and pupil-teacher relationships and psychological well-being (the depression/anxiety and social dysfunction subscales of GHQ-12) and self-esteem (positive and negative self-esteem subscales of RSE). Next, the whole sample was divided into four groups in terms of involvement in bullying (normative contrasts, passive victims, aggressive non-victims and aggressive victims). Linear regression was used to explore the associations between pupil-peer and pupil-teacher relationships with the two factors of psychological well-being and two factors of self-esteem in these four groups. Results: As findings showed, better pupil-peer relationships and also pupil-teacher relationships were significantly related statistically to less depression/anxiety and social dysfunction, as well as to more positive and less negative self-esteem. All bullying categories were significantly related to pupil-peer relationships and the four dependent variables. However, in the categories of aggressive victims and aggressive non-victims, the pupil-teacher relationship was not significantly related to their psychological well-being and self-esteem. Also, in all subgroups, better pupil-peer relationships were significantly related to less depression/anxiety and social dysfunction, as well as with more positive and less negative self-esteem. Conclusion: Given the differences found in the connections between pupil-teacher relationships and well-being and self-esteem, between those who bullied and those *Corresponding author. who were bullied, it would seem that the school environment can play an important role in implementing anti-bullying prevention strategies.

The paper deals with parental employment status and its relationship to adolescents' self-reported health. It studies the role of the financial situation, parent-adolescent relationship and adolescent resilience in the relationship between parental employment status and adolescents' self-rated health, vitality and mental health. Multiple regression analyses were used to analyse questionnaire data obtained from 2799 adolescents (mean age 14.3) in 2006. The results show a negative association of the father's, but not mother's unemployment or non-employment with adolescents' health. Regression analyses showed that neither financial strain nor a poor parent-adolescent relationship or a low score in resilience accounted for the relationship between the father's unemployment or non-employment and poorer adolescent health. Furthermore, resilience did not work as a buffer against the negative impact of fathers' unemployment on adolescents' health.

Parental employment status is an important and often overlooked contextual factor that may influence parent-adolescent relationships. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of parental support on adolescents' health within the context of parental employment status. Data on perceived mother's and father's support, mother's and father's employment status and adolescents' perceived health were collected among 1992 adolescents (mean age 16.9) and analysed using chi-square and logistic regression. Father's support was significantly more often perceived as low when the father was unemployed, while the perception of mother's support did not differ in regards to the mother's employment. Among those with an unemployed father, mother's support appeared protective for adolescents' health, while when a mother was unemployed, father's support was more strongly associated with good health. Our results suggest that in the case of unemployment of one parent, support from the other parent may be more important for children.

SummaryObjectives: The main purpose of this paper is to explore whether unemployment infl uences adolescents' subjective perception of health and whether perceived fi nancial stress and social contacts can mediate the effect of employment status on health. We are also interested in the differences in fi nancial situation and social contacts between unemployed secondary school leavers and their employed and studying counterparts. Results:The results showed highest fi nancial strain among unemployed, whereas only small differences in social contacts were found between three groups. Negative infl uence of unemployment on perceived health of respondents was confi rmed. Nevertheless, strong infl uence was found only on long-term well-being and mental health. Financial situation and social contacts contributed to the prediction of almost all health outcomes, and to some extent mediated the effect of unemployment. Conclusions:Although unemployment was found to have a negative impact on health of adolescents, suffi ciency of social contacts and good fi nancial situation seem to decrease this effect and protect the health of unemployed people.