School climate is a topic of increasing importance internationally. The current study investigated the established measurement invariance of an eight-factor school climate scale using a multi-national sample of secondary students. School climate factor means across 14 international groups were compared and findings on the association between school climate factors and mental health were also investigated. Findings from this study illustrate several

While it was established that COVID-19 pandemic had negative consequences on several aspects of mental health, little is known about the role of positive mental health indicators in pregnant women during this period. The purpose of the present study was to examine relationships between meaning in life, life satisfaction and happiness and the extent to which meaning in life predicts life satisfaction and happiness. The sample consisted of 161 pregnant women from Slovakia. Data were collecting using Life Meaningfulness Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale and Subjective Happiness Scale. As predicted, results showed that meaning in life is a predictor of life satisfaction and happiness. Higher happiness was related to increasing degree of meaning in life and absence of pregnancy-related health problems. 65% of participants reported high level of satisfaction with life and 48% of participants reported higher happiness than average person. These findings provide evidence for associations between meaning in life, life satisfaction and happiness in Slovak pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic and indicate that despite negative consequences of the pandemic, positive indicators of mental health in pregnancy play a significant role

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This paper summarizes the first pilot research results from the study of school climate in Slovak primary and secondary schools. The research was conducted as part of the Cross-Cultural School Climate Study project using the Georgia school climate surveys, adapted to Slovak conditions. Participants were 832 primary and secondary students, 125 school personnel and 614 parents. Results indicate overall positive ratings of school climate across all participant groups. Students provided the highest ratings in the domains of character, peer social support and school safety. The lowest ratings were reported in the domain of cultural acceptance. School personnel provided the most positive ratings of school climate among the participant groups, followed by parents. Both participant groups reported the highest ratings for school safety and the lowest ratings for parent involvement.

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the preliminary development and validation of the Subjective Academic Wellbeing Measure (SAWM), which is a six-item self-report rating measure intended for use as a screening tool to assess the positive academic functioning of young people within the elementary and high school context. Exploratory factor analysis was performed with Sample 1 (N= 161), indicating that the SAWM was characterized by a unidimensional measurement model and had strong factor loadings. Results from confirmatory factor analysis, which was carried out with Sample 2 (N= 199), confirmed the measurement model by yielding good data-model fit statistics that were characterized by strong latent construct and internal reliability estimates. Further analyses showed that the scale had good convergent validity considering scores from several self-reported scales of student mental health problems and positive school functioning. Further analyses also showed that configural, metric, and scalar measurement invariance were observed across gender groups. These results provide initial evidence suggesting that the SAWM is a reliable and valid measure that can be used to assess the positive academic functioning of students within the school context. Implications are discussed, and some suggestions are provided for future research and practice