New Empirical Evidence on the Validity of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in Early Adolescents
Abstract
This paper presents new empirical evidence regarding the validity of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in a large sample of early adolescents. A group of 903 Spanish adolescents aged 12 to 14 years completed a battery of questionnaires in order to assess life satisfaction, emotional and behavioral problems, trait aggressiveness, peer aggression, stress, and parental style. A moderately high level of life satisfaction was reported and no differences were found according to sex or school year. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a one-factor structure for the SWLS. Correlation analysis showed that life satisfaction had a moderate positive correlation with parental affect, and negative correlations with externalizing and internalizing behaviors, aggression, stress, and parental criticism. Regression analysis revealed that early adolescents report greater life satisfaction when they perceive high levels of maternal affect and low levels of internalizing problems, hostility, stress, and parental criticism. These results show that the inclusion of intrapersonal and environmental variables can further our understanding of life satisfaction in early adolescents and suggest that intervention programs designed to promote this should consider these variables.
References
2000). Fiabilidad y validez del youth self report en una muestra de adolescentes [
(Youth self-report viability and validity in an adolescent sample ]. Psicothema, 12(1), 49–54.2010). Resilience and perceived stress: Predictors of life satisfaction in the students of success and failure. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 748–752.
(2001). Manual for the ASEBA School-Age Forms and Profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth and Families.
(2008). Adolescent life satisfaction. Applied Psychology, 57, 112–126.
(2002). Adaptación psicométrica de la versión española del Cuestionario de Agresión [
(Validation of the Spanish version of the Aggression Questionnaire ]. Psicothema, 14, 476–482.1991) The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS): Psychometric properties in a nonpsychiatric medical outpatients sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 12, 117–123.
(2003). Satisfaction with Life Scale: Analysis of factorial invariance across sexes. Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 1255–1260.
(2000). Propiedades psicométricas de la Escala de Satisfacción con la Vida en adolescentes [
(Psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in adolescents ]. Psicothema, 12, 331–336.2007). Indicators of children’s well-being: Concepts, indices and usage. Social Indicators Research, 80, 1–4.
(1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238–246.
(2006). EQS 6 Structural Equations Program Manual. Encino, CA: Nova.
(1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 588–606.
(2001). Análisis psicométrico de dos escalas para evaluar estilos educativos parentales [
(Psychometric anlysis of two scales to evaluate parents’ educational styles ]. Psicothema, 13, 678–684.1989). L’Echelle de satisfaction de vie: Validation Canadienne-Francaise du “Satisfaction With Life Scale” [
(The Satisfaction with Life Scale: Canadian-French validation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale ]. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 21, 210–223.1992). The Aggression Questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 452–459.
(2007). Profiles of adolescent stress: The development of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ). Journal of Adolescence, 30, 393–416.
(2004). Los valores y su influencia en la satisfacción vital de los adolescentes entre los 12 y los 16 años: Estudio de algunos correlatos [
(Values and its influence on life satisfaction of adolescents between 12 and 16 years old: Study of some correlates ]. Apuntes de Psicología, 22(1), 3–23.1984). The emergence of developmental psychopathology. Child Development, 55, 1–7.
(2009). Self-esteem as mediator and moderator of the relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction in adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 954–958.
(1992). Life stress in children and adolescents: An overview of conceptual and methodological issues. In , Stress and coping in child health (pp. 25–43). New York: Guilford.
(1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.
(1998). Linkages between children’s beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression and their behavior. Social Developmental, 7, 321–339.
(2011). Adaptación española de la escala de manifestaciones de estrés del Student Stress Inventory (SSI-SM) [
(Spanish adaption of the Stress Manifestations Scale of the Student Stress Inventory ]. Psicothema, 23, 475–485.2010). Investigating validity evidence of the Satisfaction with Life Scale adapted for children. Social Indicators Research, 96, 229–247.
(2003). A review of life satisfaction research with children and adolescents. School Psychology Quarterly, 18, 192–205.
(2006). Characteristics of adolescents who report very high life satisfaction. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35, 293–301.
(2008). Personality and life events as predictors of adolescents’ life satisfaction: Do life events mediate the link between personality and life satisfaction? Social Indicators Research, 89, 457–471.
(1998). Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods, 3, 424–53.
(1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55.
(1994). Preliminary development and validation of a multidimensional of a life satisfaction for children. Psychological Assessment, 6, 149–158.
(2004). Research on assessment of life satisfaction of children and adolescents. Social Indicators Research, 66, 3–33.
(2008). A psychometric evaluation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in a Swedish nationwide sample of university students. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 1070–1079.
(2011). Personality and subjective well-being: One neglected model of personality and two forgotten aspects of subjective well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 631–635.
(2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed). New York: Guilford.
(1992). Life satisfaction, self-concept, and relationship with parents in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 21, 653–665.
(2000). Predictors of life satisfaction in Chinese adolescents: Self-concepts and relationships with significant others. In , International perspectives on child and adolescent mental health (Vol. 1): Proceedings of the First International Conference. Elsevier Science Ltd.
(1996). Discriminant validity of well-being measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 616–628.
(2008). Attachment relationships and adolescents’ life satisfaction: Some relationships matter more to girls than boys. Psychology in the Schools, 45, 177–190.
(2008). Does life satisfaction predict victimization experiences in adolescence? Psychology in the Schools, 45, 705–714.
(2007). La satisfacción con la vida en la adolescencia y su relación con la autoestima y el ajuste escolar [
(Adolescent life satisfaction and relationship with adolescent self-esteem and schools adjustment ]. Anuario de Psicología, 38, 293–303.2008). Perceived stress, coping resources, and life satisfaction among US and mexican college students: A crosscultural study. Anales de Psicología, 24, 49–57.
(2002). Relationships among stressful events, temperament, problems behavior and global life satisfaction in adolescents. Psychology in the Schools, 39, 677–687.
(1993). The Satisfaction with Life Scale: Psychometric properties in an adolescent sample. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 22, 125–134.
(2004). The influence of parent and peer attachments on life satisfaction in middle childhood and early adolescence. Social Indicators Research, 66, 35–60.
(1993). Review of the satisfaction with life scale. Psychological Assessment, 5, 164–172.
(2008). The satisfaction with life scale and the emerging construct of life satisfaction. Journal of Positive Psychology, 3, 137–152.
(2010). Parent, school and peer-related correlates of adolescents’ life satisfaction. Children and Youth Services Review, 32, 1479–1482.
(2009). Youth life satisfaction: A review of the literature. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10, 583–630.
(in press ). Stress symptoms among adolescents: The role of subjective psychosocial conditions, lifestyle, and self-esteem. Journal of Adolescence.2007). A longitudinal study of perceived parental psychological control and psychological well-being in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63, 1–22.
(1998). Satisfaction with Life Scale: Analysis of factorial invariance, mean structures and reliability. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 911–916.
(2008). Refining the relationship between personality and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 138–161.
(2004). Does life satisfaction moderate the effects of stressful life events on psychopathological behavior during adolescence? School Psychology Quarterly, 19, 93–105.
(2009). Sources of stress for students in high school college preparatory and general education programs: Group differences and associations with adjustment. Adolescence, 44, 925–948.
(2006). Life satisfaction and violent behaviors among middle school students. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 15, 695–707.
(2001). Relationship between life satisfaction and violent behaviors among adolescents. American Journal of Health Behavior, 25, 353–366.
(2009). Hope versus optimism in Singaporean adolescents: Contributions to depression and life satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 648–652.
(2009). Longitudinal Invariance analysis of the satisfaction with life scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 396–40.
(2006). Analysis of factorial invariance across gender in the Taiwan version of the satisfaction with life scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1259–1268.
(2001). The relationship between life satisfaction and selected substance abuse behaviors among public high school adolescents. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 29, 279–288.
(