Beyond special educational needs labeling: internalizing and externalizing symptom profiles explain school well-being in inclusive education

Introduction The study investigates how students’ psychosocial problems and special educational needs (SEN) relate to their subjective school well-being (SWB) within inclusive secondary education. Building on multidimensional perspectives on SWB and vulnerability models of psychosocial functioning, the study tests (1) whether SWB is best represented by a multidimensional structure and (2) how internalizing and externalizing symptoms, alongside SEN status, predict distinct SWB components. By employing a hierarchical modeling approach, the study tests whether SEN status explains unique variance in SWB over and above students’ psychosocial symptom profiles, thereby addressing conceptual inconsistencies in prior research and clarifying the proximal psychological mechanisms underlying SWB in inclusive settings. Methods A total of N = 976 students from seven inclusive secondary schools in Germany (Grades 8–10) participated in the study. SWB was assessed using the Questionnaire for Assessing School Well-Being in Inclusive Classes, and psychosocial problems were measured with the self-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Four competing Confirmatory Factor Analysis models tested alternative representations of SWB. Hierarchical multilevel regression models examined the incremental contributions of SEN status and psychosocial symptoms to six SWB dimensions. Analyses were conducted in R using the lavaan, lme4, and performance packages. Results A correlated six-factor model showed the best fit, supporting the multidimensional structure of SWB. SEN status did not explain unique variance in SWB beyond psychosocial symptoms. Psychosocial problems alone explained 18–40% of variance (all <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.001</mml:mn> </mml:math> ), and adding SEN status did not improve model fit ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"> <mml:msup> <mml:mi>χ</mml:mi> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:msup> <mml:mo stretchy="true">(</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:mo stretchy="true">)</mml:mo> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.03</mml:mn> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>2.14</mml:mn> </mml:math> , all <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mo>&gt;</mml:mo> <mml:mn>.05</mml:mn> </mml:math> ). Internalizing symptoms (Emotional Symptoms, Peer Problems) showed the strongest and broadest negative associations across affective and social SWB ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"> <mml:mi>β</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.19</mml:mn> </mml:math> to <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"> <mml:mi>β</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>.56</mml:mn> </mml:math> , all <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6"> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.001</mml:mn> </mml:math> ). Externalizing symptoms (Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity/Inattention) showed smaller, more domain-specific effects, primarily on social and competence-related SWB ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M7"> <mml:mi>β</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.07</mml:mn> </mml:math> to <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8"> <mml:mi>β</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.24</mml:mn> </mml:math> , all <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9"> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.05</mml:mn> </mml:math> ). Discussion The findings show that students’ psychosocial symptom profiles, especially internalizing problems, are more informative predictors of SWB than categorical SEN labels. The results highlight the need for multidimensional SWB assessment and symptom-sensitive approaches in inclusive education. Practically, they suggest that school-based well-being frameworks should (1) prioritize early detection of internalizing symptoms, (2) rely on differentiated psychosocial profiles rather than broad SEN categories, and (3) align interventions with distinct affective, social, and competence-related components of SWB. Mindful of increasing international emphasis on mental health support in schools, these findings clarify how specific psychosocial vulnerabilities shape SWB and provide guidance for targeted, equitable school-based well-being strategies.