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Toward a Theory of Child Well-Being

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  • Ramesh Raghavan
  • Anna Alexandrova

Abstract

Assuring the well-being of children has emerged over the past several decades as an important goal for health and social policymakers. Although the concept of child well-being has been operationalized and measured in different ways by different child-serving entities, there are few unifying theories that could undergird and inform these various conceptual and measurement efforts. In this paper, we attempt to construct a theory of child well-being. We first review the social and policy history of the concept of child well-being, and briefly review its measurement based on these conceptualizations. We then examine three types of theories of well-being extant in philosophy—mental states theories, desire-based theories and needs-based theories—and investigate their suitability to serve as prototypes of a theory of child well-being. We develop a constraint that child well-being is important in and of itself and not merely as a way station to future adult well-being (we call this a non-reduction constraint). Using this constraint, we identify the limitations of each of the three sets of theories to serve as a basis for a theory of child well-being. Based on a developmentalist approach, we then articulate a theory of child well-being that contains two conditions. First, a child’s stage-appropriate capacities that equip her for successful adulthood, given her environment; and, second, an engagement with the world in child-appropriate ways. We conclude by reviewing seven implications of this theoretical approach for the measurement of child well-being. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Ramesh Raghavan & Anna Alexandrova, 2015. "Toward a Theory of Child Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 887-902, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:121:y:2015:i:3:p:887-902
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-014-0665-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Laura Lippman, 2007. "Indicators and Indices of Child Well-being: A Brief American History," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 83(1), pages 39-53, August.
    2. Jonathan Bradshaw & Petra Hoelscher & Dominic Richardson, 2007. "An Index of Child Well-being in the European Union," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 80(1), pages 133-177, January.
    3. Kenneth Land & Vicki Lamb & Sarah Mustillo, 2001. "Child and Youth Well-Being in the United States, 1975–1998: Some Findings from a New Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 241-318, December.
    4. Kenneth Land & Vicki Lamb & Sarah Meadows & Ashley Taylor, 2007. "Measuring trends in child well-being: an evidence-based approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 80(1), pages 105-132, January.
    5. Miriam Teschl & Flavio Comim, 2005. "Adaptive Preferences and Capabilities: Some Preliminary Conceptual Explorations," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 63(2), pages 229-247.
    6. Hertzman, C. & Wiens, M., 1996. "Child development and long-term outcomes: A population health perspective and summary of successful interventions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1083-1095, October.
    7. Elizabeth Pollard & Patrice Lee, 2003. "Child Well-being: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 59-78, January.
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