What parents of Russian state schoolchildren expect from schools regarding care for student well-being and their level of satisfaction: development of a questionnaire

Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics. 2025.

Strukova A., Antipkina I., Lynch M.

Purpose. The paper presents a methodology of the development of the two scales grounded in Self-Determination Theory to measure 1) parental expectations regarding school care for student well-being and 2) the corresponding levels of satisfaction.

Methods. The Well-being Expectations and Satisfaction Questionnaire (WESQ) was specifically designed for this research, and the results that were obtained from its application to a sample of 1,568 parents in Russia are detailed herein. The WESQ comprises two reliable scales: the expectations scale (e-scale, ω = 0.96) and the satisfaction scale (s-scale, ω = 0.96). Each scale consists of 20 statements organised in a tree structure, whereby parents are only prompted to evaluate their satisfaction if they have previously expressed such expectations. 

Findings. The results, derived through IRTree modelling, indicate that parents are more inclined to endorse expectations associated with relatedness, while demonstrating greater reluctance towards items concerning autonomy. A similar pattern was observed for the satisfaction items. Through hierarchical clustering, four distinct clusters of parents were identified. 

Originality. Self-Determination Theory is employed for the first time to operationalise parental expectations for schools’ support of student well-being and to evaluate their satisfaction. This study has developed and piloted a new instrument.

Keywords: теория самодетерминации, self-determination theory, разработка инструмента оценивания, test development, психологическое благополучие школьников, student well-being, parental attitude toward school, parental expectations from school, parental satisfaction with school, отношение родителей к школе, ожидания родителей от школы