EN
Objectives: The goal of the study was to assess the relation between quality of life and perceived social relationships and social exclusion in Czech children. Subjects and setting: A total number of 4 782 children aged 11, 13 and 15 years out of 86 randomly selected schools in the Czech Republic formed the study population. The data was acquired in the framework of the WHO study „The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children: A WHO Cross National Study“ (HBSC)in May 2006 by means of standardized questionnaires. Hypotheses: Social relationships have an important effect on subjectively perceived quality of life in children. Statistical analyses: Statistical analyses included descriptive analysis, the test of independence in contingency tables, Fisher’s test, two samples T-test, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, analyses of variance with post-hoc test, and correlational analyses (Pearson) using the NCSS 2007 program. Results: The average value of perceived family relationships was 7,6 (scale 0-10) amongst all of the sample cases. Assessment of relationships was significantly associated with age and gender. Children who perceived themselves as lonely and stated that it is difficult for them to communicate with their mothers about things that trouble them, and that it is also difficult for them to find friends and who felt that they are not popular among their peers gave significantly lower values on the chosen quality of life scales. The feeling of happiness in children with problematic relationships was significantly associated with the amount of time spent with their family, satisfaction with one’s life, self-confidence, trust in the future and perception of life. Study limitation: Quality of life, social relationships, and social exclusion were analysed on the basis of selected question categories and subjective perception of children.