The Role of School Context in Children's Well-Being and Executive Function: Exploring Child- and Adult-Centered Approaches

Children’s socioemotional and cognitive development is shaped by the contexts in which they grow. As a key developmental setting, school influences both well-being and the emergence of sociocognitive skills such as executive function (EF). This study explored whether school contexts aligned with Lillard’s (2023) Child-Environment Interplay (CEI) model and Teacher-Text-Centered (TTC) model show differential patterns in the relationship between EF and school well-being. A total of 105 children from preschool and primary school participated (NCEI = 84; NTTC = 41). EF was assessed through three tasks assesing inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. School well-being was evaluated using a child-report scale that included items on engagement, school environment, and aggression. Results revealed no significant differences between school types in overall levels of EF or WB. However, interaction effects indicated that the effect of well-being on EF differs between school contexts: in TTC contexts, but not in CEI, higher EF was associated with lower WB. Moreover, across both contexts, children with higher EF reported higher perceptions of aggression. A complementary qualitative analysis of the WB instrument highlights the importance of adapting school well-being measures from a child-centered perspective. These findings suggest that the interplay between children’s cognitive skills and their educational context matters, and that child-centered environments may buffer potentially negative effects of EF-related sensitivity.