School satisfaction among secondary school students: Relations with school achievement and mental health indicators

School satisfaction among secondary school students is a neglected research topic in the field of school psychology. The main aim of this research was to examine the relations between school satisfaction, school achievement and indicators of subjective well-being and emotional distress. The research was carried out on a sample of 408 secondary school students, with the mean age 16.6 years. The results of a one-way ANOVA showed that students reporting very high school satisfaction (upper quartile) had significantly higher levels of subjective well-being, lower levels of emotional distress and greater school achievement that students with both very low (lower quartile) and average (middle 25%) school satisfaction. The results of this research suggest that not only school satisfaction is an important aspect of subjective well-being, it can also be used as a valid general measure of adaptive functioning among pupils.