Perceived Social Support from Different Sources and Adolescent Life Satisfaction Across 42 Countries/Regions: The Moderating Role of National-Level Generalized Trust

Although previous research established a positive association between perceived social support and adolescent life satisfaction, little is known about the relative importance of different sources of support for adolescent life satisfaction and cross-country variations in this respect. Using large-scale representative samples from the 2017/18 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, this study examined to what extent the association between social support and life satisfaction in early adolescence varied across different social sources and countries. Also, it examined whether cross-country variations are explained by national-level generalized trust, a sociocultural factor that shapes adolescent socialization. National-level data were linked to data from 183,918 early adolescents (Mage = 13.56, SD = 1.63, 52% girls) from 42 European and North American countries/regions obtained from HBSC. Multilevel regression analyses yielded a positive association between support from different sources and life satisfaction. The strongest associations were found for support from families, followed by teachers and classmates, and weakest for support from friends. Associations varied across different countries/regions. National-level trust amplified the association between perceived classmate support and adolescent life satisfaction. The revealed cross-country differences open avenues for future cross-cultural research on explanations for cross-cultural differences in the association between social support from different sources and life satisfaction in early adolescence.

The Influence of Moral Character Attributes on Adolescent Life Satisfaction: the Mediating Role of Responsible Behavior

In this pioneering study, we examined the influence of moral character attributes and responsible behavior on adolescent life satisfaction, as well as the mediating role of adolescents’ responsible behavior in the influence of moral character attributes on life satisfaction in 2,474 adolescents in Hong Kong. We used a 25-item measure to assess moral character attributes, a 15-item measure to assess responsible behavior, and the 5-item Satisfaction with Life Scale to assess life satisfaction. Factor analyses using confirmatory factor analyses provided support for the factorial validity of the measures of adolescent moral character attributes, responsible behavior, and life satisfaction. Consistent with our hypotheses, moral character attributes positively predicted adolescents’ responsible behavior as well as life satisfaction, and adolescents’ responsible behavior positively predicted life satisfaction. Separate analyses using PROCESS and combined analysis using SEM via Mplus showed that adolescents’ responsible behavior mediated the influence of moral character attributes on adolescent life satisfaction. The present findings highlight the importance of moral character on adolescent well-being and support the positive youth development approach in the field.

Trajectories of adolescent life satisfaction

Increasing global policy interest in measuring and improving population wellbeing has prompted many academic investigations into the dynamics of life satisfaction across the lifespan. While numerous international projects now track adults’ life satisfaction trajectories, little research has simultaneously assessed both adults and adolescents using comparable samples and techniques. Yet adolescence harbours developmental changes that could affect wellbeing far into adulthood: adolescent life satisfaction trajectories are, therefore, critical to map and understand. Analysing data from 91,267 UK participants aged 10-80 years, sampled annually for up to 9 years, this study investigates how life satisfaction develops throughout adolescence. Using a latent growth curve approach, we find a decrease in life satisfaction during adolescence, which is steeper than at any other point across adolescence and adulthood. Further, adolescent females’ life satisfaction decreases earlier than males’; this is the only substantial gender difference in life satisfaction that emerges across the wide age range studied. The study highlights the importance of adopting a lifespan perspective with respect to subjective wellbeing in areas spanning research, policy and practice.

The interplay between national and parental unemployment in relation to adolescent life satisfaction in 27 countries: analyses of repeated cross-sectional school surveys

Background Previous research shows that parental unemployment is associated with low life satisfaction in adolescents. It is unclear whether this translates to an association between national unemployment and adolescent life satisfaction, and whether such a contextual association is entirely explained by parental unemployment, or if it changes as a function thereof. For adults, associations have been shown between unemployment and mental health, including that national unemployment can affect mental health and life satisfaction of both the employed and the unemployed, but to different degrees. The aim of this paper is to analyse how national unemployment levels are related to adolescent life satisfaction, across countries as well as over time within a country, and to what extent and in what ways such an association depends on whether the individual’s own parents are unemployed or not. Methods Repeated cross-sectional data on adolescents’ (aged 11, 13 and 15 years, n = 386,402) life satisfaction and parental unemployment were collected in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, in 27 countries and 74 country-years, across 2001/02, 2005/06 and 2009/10 survey cycles. We linked this data to national harmonised unemployment rates provided by OECD and tested their associations using multilevel linear regression, including interaction terms between national and parental unemployment. Results Higher national unemployment rates were related to lower adolescent life satisfaction, cross-sectionally between countries but not over time within countries. The verified association was significant for adolescents with and without unemployed parents, but stronger so in adolescents with unemployed fathers or both parents unemployed. Having an unemployed father, mother och both parents was in itself related to lower life satisfaction. Conclusion Living in a country with higher national unemployment seems to be related to lower adolescent life satisfaction, whether parents are unemployed or not, although stronger among adolescents where the father or both parents are unemployed. However, variation in unemployment over the years did not show an association with adolescent life satisfaction.

Foster, J. D., & Jackson, M. H. (2019). Measurement confounds in study on social media usage and adolescent life satisfaction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201908385.

This is a comment on Orben, A., Dienlin, T., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019). Social media’s enduring effect on adolescent life satisfaction. Proc Natl Acad Sci, 201902058. Comment addresses problems with how social media usage was measured in study.