In pursuit of wellness.

This paper examines the well-being and career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) of adolescents before and after leaving school, and tests for the changes in these variables as a result of leaving school. While at high school, 309 students were assessed on levels of school achievement, well-being (psychological distress, self-esteem, life satisfaction) and CDMSE. Nine months after leaving school, 168 of these students completed the above surveys and measures of their access to the latent (e.g. social contact, time structure) and manifest (i.e. financial) benefits of employment, and work commitment. At T2, 21% were full-time students, 35% were full-time students who were also working part-time, 22% were employed in full-time jobs, and 21% were in the labour market but not employed full-time. These groupings were differentiated at T2 on aspects of well-being, self-efficacy, and access to the latent and manifest benefits of work, and at T1 on aspects of well-being and confidence. Leaving school improved well-being and confidence for some. One group was disadvantaged by having poorer well-being while at school, which predisposed them to disadvantage in the labour market. Results are discussed in relation to models of well-being and drift/social causation.

Leaving High School: The Influence and Consequences for Psychological Well-Being and Career-Related Confidence

Strengthquest: Discover and Develop Your Strengths in Academics, Career, and Beyond

Worldwide, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) has become the most widely used measure of life satisfaction. Recently, an authorized Vietnamese-language version has been introduced. Using a convenience sample comprising community volunteers from Ho Chi Minh City (N = 1073), confirmatory support was found for the cross-national constancy of the one-dimensional structure underlying the SWLS. Corrected item–total polyserial correlations and Omega coefficient were satisfactory. Using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, configural, metric, and scalar invariance of the SWLS factorial structure were tested by gender, age, marital status, income, and educational level. Strong evidence of scalar invariance was found for gender and education, on which relevant subgroups did not differ in terms of latent means. Partial scalar invariance was found for marital status (item 4 and 5) and income (item 4). Being involved in an intimate relationship or having a higher income were associated with higher latent means. Scalar invariance in relation to age was very poor. Accordingly, caution must be exerted when comparing age groups. A high SWLS score was predictive of good self-rated health. Implications of the findings are briefly discussed.

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Measurement Invariance and Construct Validity of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) in Community Volunteers in Vietnam

Abstract Positively and negatively evaluated life events are associated with individuals’ life satisfaction. In the present study, we tested whether the link between individuals’ evaluations of life events in the social domain and their satisfaction with life is moderated by their implicit affiliation motive. Adolescent participants were recruited in Germany and Zambia. First, data on the implicit affiliation motive and life satisfaction were gathered. Approximately six to eight months later, adolescents reported on their life satisfaction again and indicated the recent occurrence of life events in the social domain. Moreover, they reported on the affective quality of those events. Analyses showed that positive evaluations of social life events predict life satisfaction only among adolescents characterized by a strong affiliation motive. This moderation effect was not qualified by individuals’ cultural background. Findings are discussed with respect to universal effects of implicit motives on individuals’ life satisfaction. 

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The Implicit Affiliation Motive, Evaluations of Social Life Events, and Life Satisfaction: Findings from a Cross-Cultural Study with German and Zambian Adolescents

Measurement of adolescent life satisfaction across cultures has not received much attention in previous empirical research. The present study evaluated measurement invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) among adolescents in 24 countries and regions (N = 22,710; age range = 13-19 years; 53% female). A single-factor model with residual covariance between a pair of items tapping past life satisfaction fitted well in 19 countries and regions and showed a partial metric invariance. In a subset of nine countries and regions, partial scalar invariance was supported. Partial metric invariance across all 24 countries and regions was achieved when custom model modifications in five countries and regions were included. Three SWLS items showed evidence of noninvariance across cultures. The measurement model was found to operate similarly across gender and age. Our findings suggest that caution is needed when using the SWLS for measuring life satisfaction among adolescents from different cultures.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11482-021-10024-w. 

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The Satisfaction with Life Scale in Adolescent Samples: Measurement Invariance across 24 Countries and Regions, Age, and Gender

Research has shown that the disease model of child development has not led to the prevention of antisocial behaviour or psychological disorders in youth. Recent findings have shown that the positive outcomes of moral education in the building of character strengths can be used as buffers against the development of both psychological and behavioural difficulties. Similarly, youth life satisfaction has been shown to have a buffering affect for adolescents and to be positively related to an array of desirable social and psychological characteristics. Primarily this research sought to examine whether the awareness of character strengths and the exercising of them through strengths-based exercises increases life satisfaction among adolescents.
This research also sought to develop student materials for the school curriculum designed to encourage students to exercise and learn about their strengths. Results revealed that awareness of individual character strengths is positively non-significantly related to increased mean life satisfaction. Participation in character strengths-based exercises is significantly related to increased life satisfaction among adolescents. Application of a character strengths-based programme in the school curriculum has an overall positive impact on life satisfaction, positive affect, and self-esteem.
Young people with very high levels of life satisfaction have significantly higher mean scores on multiple school, interpersonal, and intrapersonal variables than those with average and very low levels of life satisfaction. Results further indicate that young people with very low levels of life satisfaction would benefit most from interventions aimed at boosting those variables having the most influence on their level of life satisfaction. Generic strengths use is a strong unique predictor of subjective well-being among individuals for whom specific character strengths associated with a life of meaning are commonly-endorsed. Life satisfaction is positively associated with the characteristics identified as representative of the Rogerian fully functioning individual.

Carmel Laura Proctor

Papers

The Satisfaction with Life Scale in Adolescent Samples: Measurement Invariance across 24 Countries and Regions, Age, and Gender

Satisfaction with life : examining the impact of character strengths among young people