Effects of Protective Factors on School Life Satisfaction among Korean High School Students: Focused on Self-Esteem, Parental Autonomy Support, and Human Rights Respect

Abstract

This study intended to investigate the effects of protective factors on school life satisfaction among Korean high school students, over and above the effects of risk factors. Specifically, this study examined the effects of risk factors­depression, peer victimization, teacher violence, and discrimination­and protective factors­self-esteem, parental autonomy support, and human rights respect­using hierarchical regression analysis. The data of 3,370 high school students nationwide were analyzed using SPSS 24.0. The findings showed that the final model where self-esteem, parental autonomy support, and human rights respect were additionally entered was significantly improved compared with the second model where socio-demographic characteristics and risk factors were entered. Specifically, self-esteem, parental autonomy support, and human rights respect had positive effects on school life satisfaction, controlling for the socio-demographic characteristics and risk factors. Given these findings, this study suggests that interventions for reinforcing self-esteem, parental autonomy support, and human rights respect are required to promote school life satisfaction.