The improvement of the well-being of children and adolescents: both healthy ones and those suffering from mental disorders

Abstrakt

The term of subjective well-being (often referred as quality of life) concerns life in physical and mental health or material wealth, but also includes such elements as a sense of happiness, possibility of development, fulfillment of desires or acceptance. In the article, the main components of subjective well-being were briefly presented. Subsequently, factors influencing children’s and adolescents’ quality of life as material and social conditions or the family environment were discussed. The dependence between the subjective well-being of children and their parents was also raised. Next, a reference was made to a group of children and adolescents suffering from mental disorders. Possible ways to improve, support and develop quality of life were proposed, such as care for the family, support from state bodies, judiciary or foundations (NGOs), conducting social debates or participating in various types of training to improve cognitive and emotional functioning.