International Journal of Behavioral Development Life satisfaction, self-concept, and family relations in Chinese adolescents and children (original) (raw)
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A Cross-cultural Comparison of the Dimensions of Child and Adolescent Life Satisfaction Reports
Social Indicators Research, 2004
The factorial invariance of the Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS: Huebner, 1994) across two divergent cultures (collectivistic vs. individualistic) was investigated with 835 Korean and 822 US students in elementary, middle, and high schools. Psychometric properties of the Korean version of the MSLSS were acceptable. A series of multisampleconfirmatory factor analyses (MCFA) demonstrated the cross-cultural similarity of the five-factor model for students' life satisfaction. The similar structure of MSLSS across cultural groups provides the basis for meaningful international comparisons of life satisfaction among children and adolescents. Further cross-cultural research including various culturally sensitive life satisfaction domains may enhance understanding of cultural differences in the structure, correlates, and consequences related to students' life satisfaction.
Frontiers in Pediatrics, 2013
This study investigated whether Chinese adolescents living in intact and non-intact families differed in their positive development, life satisfaction, and risk behavior. A total of 3,328 Secondary 1 students responded to measures of positive youth development (such as resilience and psychosocial competencies), life satisfaction, and risk behavior (substance abuse, delinquency, Internet addiction, consumption of pornographic materials, self-harm, and behavioral intention to engage in problem behavior). Findings revealed that adolescents growing up in intact families reported higher levels of positive developmental outcomes and life satisfaction as compared with adolescents from non-intact families. Adolescents in non-intact families also reported higher levels of risk behaviors than those growing up in intact families.
Personality and Parenting Style as Predictors of Life Satisfaction Among Chinese Secondary Students
Student life satisfaction plays a key role in academic achievement; however, the exploration on the predictors of life satisfaction in secondary school students is insufficient. This study explored how indigenous personality traits and parenting style predicted students' life satisfaction. The participants were 718 junior secondary students in China with a mean age of 13.39 years. Personality , parental style, and life satisfaction were assessed through inventories which were statistically supported in the literature. The results showed that personality, parent-ing style, and life satisfaction were interrelated. Personality and parenting style altogether accounted for around 31 % variance in student global life satisfaction. Specifically, global life satisfaction could be predicted by the personality factors of emotional stability, dependability, and indigenous interpersonal relatedness as well as authoritative and permissive parenting styles. Different domains of life satisfaction were predicted by personality factors and parenting styles to different extents. Implications for cross-cultural theorizing and positive education are discussed.
The Subjective Well-being of Adolescents from Two different cultures 2014
This paper analyses the crosscultural comparability of well-being among 13-20 year-old adolescents using two samples, one from Oran County (Wilaya) in Algeria and another from Catalonia (Spain). The following are used as well-being indicators: a modified version of the original Personal Well-being Index (PWI) (Cummins et al. in Soc Indicat Res 64:159-190, 2003b), a single-item scale on overall life satisfaction (OLS) and a list of complementary items on satisfaction with various life domains. This research tests the original version of the PWI with some changes and two other versions with additional items. Confirmatory factor analyses show good fit statistics for the three versions with the pooled sample of adolescents from the two countries. The multigroup models show that correlations and regressions may be compared between the two samples, but not means, probably due to different cultural response styles among adolescents in the two countries. Structural equation models including OLS also show good fit statistics. When gender and age are included in these models, the former does not show any correlation with PWI11 in either of the two countries, whereas age shows a clearly negative correlation in both. A new version of the PWI with 11 items has shown higher standardized regression coefficients when the items are regressed on OLS and higher R 2 and each of the items has shown to contribute with unique explained variance using the pooled sample, although 3 of the original scale items do not show a significant contribution in Algeria. The fact that a multigroup model using this 11-item version shows good fit with constrained loadings when comparing samples from such different cultural and linguistic contexts as Catalonia and Algeria offers new opportunities for international comparative research of adolescents' subjective well-being.
Subjective well-being among preadolescents-Evidence from urban China
We examine what factors are correlated with subjective well-being among Chinese preadolescents. In particular, we investigate whether preadolescents' subjective well-being is correlated with their parents' subjective well-being. Interestingly, we find that the factors that affect parents' subjective well-being do not influence their preadolescents' subjective wellbeing, nor is there a significant correlation between the preadolescents' subjective well-being and the well-being of their parents. Instead, we find that factors such as number of close friends, not being bullied, and spending time and conversing with parents are positively correlated with preadolescents´ subjective well-being. Another interesting finding is that preadolescents´ well-being does not seem to be correlated with their school performance.
Parental Social Support and Adolescent Well-Being: a Cross-Sectional Study in China
Child Indicators Research
The aim of this study was to examine whether the two components of parental social support, emotional and instrumental, are associated with various aspects of adolescent well-being in the current Chinese context. A sample of 1306 adolescents (47% girls, 11, 13 and 15 years old, 39% urban) was derived from the nationally representative 2012 survey "China Family Panel Studies". Four indicators of adolescent well-being were examined: health status, academic attainment, self-perception and depression. Logistic regression and multiple linear regression models were applied to analyze associations between the two domains of parental social support and four indicators of adolescent well-being, respectively. Both the intermediate and high levels of emotional support were associated with better self-perception and lower levels of depression, while these associations were only reflected at the high level of instrumental support. In addition, only the high level of emotional support was associated with higher academic attainment. Overall these associations remained after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, including age, gender, living location, family income and family size. However, some of the confounders were more influential on adolescent well-being than others. For example, those adolescents who lived in rural areas were more likely to report suboptimal health status. These findings are discussed in the context of the rapid changes in Chinese society. This research adds to the empirical evidence on the association between parental social support and adolescent well-being in contemporary Mainland China.
Happiness of children as they grow into their teens : the Hong Kong case
2013
This paper reports the results of a dual survey of children from Primary 4 through Secondary 3 and their parents from Hong Kong conducted from November 2011 to January 2012. It confirms the often-cited result that happiness declines as the child moves into the teens, and finds that scores indicating Love, Insight, Fortitude, and Engagement, which reflect aspects of mental capital essential to happiness, also tend to decline during adolescence. Pressures from extracurricular activities surprisingly appear to have a greater adverse effect on happiness than pressures from school work. Siblings add to disharmony at home, and parents' education does not help enhance a child's happiness, although perception of financial well-being does. A loving relationship between father and mother is a key driving factor for a child's love score. Respect for the child's opinions and respect for privacy appear to offset completely any intergenerational barrier to effective communication or negative effect from parents' age.
In this research we aimed to determine to what extent socio-demographic variables, subjective material well-being, aspects of social relationships and personal resources predict adolescents' life satisfaction. The study included a representative sample of 2823 Croatian high school students. The participants completed scales measuring their perception of parental child-rearing practices, family cohesion, support from a close friend and global self-worth. The structured questions were used to assess students' global satisfaction with life, perception of economic status of their family and socio-demographic variables. The results of multiple regression analyses showed that adolescents' life satisfaction could be best explained by their higher self-esteem, family cohesion and parental support, and higher perceived material well-being. Significant interaction effects were also found which indicate that self-esteem and support from a close friend moderate negative effects of p...
Factors Associated With Life Satisfaction in Adolescents: Implications for Families and Schools
School Community Journal, 2024
Research shows a decline in U.S. adolescent mental health over several decades. It also suggests that higher levels of life satisfaction lead to better mental health outcomes in this population. The purpose of this study was to investigate correlations between adolescent life satisfaction and eight developmental attributes that can be fostered by families and educators —curiosity, creativity, empathy, integrity, resilience, resourcefulness, self-awareness, and sociability. Correlations were also examined for grade-point average (GPA), gender, and grade level. The study hypothesized that young people who rated themselves highly on the eight developmental attributes would also score higher in life satisfaction, regardless of GPA. Quantitative survey research was used to investigate the correlations between these constructs and life satisfaction in U.S. eighth and ninth graders (N = 602) attending public schools in two Midwestern states. Self-awareness, resilience, and resourcefulness were most highly correlated with life satisfaction. Moderately strong correlations were obtained for sociability, curiosity, and integrity. GPA and empathy were the lowest correlates of life satisfaction among measured factors. Adolescent males were almost twice as likely to report very high life satisfaction compared to their female counterparts. These findings should expand the goals of family–school partnerships beyond raising academic performance to insure that all children enjoy the relationships and relational experiences that help them attain life satisfaction and more positive mental health outcomes.