A contextualized measure of Overall Life Satisfaction among adolescents: differences by gender
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A contextualized measure of Overall Life Satisfaction among adolescents: differences by gender Maria Aymerich 1
& Ferran
Casas 1
Accepted: 14 May 2020/ # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The main aim of the present study is to explore and test an indicator of subjective wellbeing for adolescents: the Present Overall Life Satisfaction (POLS), derived from subjects’ consciously contextualized reflections on their own life cycle. We believe this to be a novel and innovative approach compared to those instruments traditionally used to date, given that it relates SWB measurement to its time axis. The article also explores this indicator’s performance in relation to gender and levels of anxiety and depression. The sample comprised 614 adolescents with an average age of 16.6 years (Dt = 0.74; age range = 16–19), 58.1% of whom were girls and 41.9% boys. As well as the proposed indicator, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and Students’ Life Satisfaction Scales (SLSS) were used as indicators of subjective well-being, and the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale (GADS) as indicators of unease. Life satisfaction scores were higher among boys than among girls. These significantly lower levels of satisfaction in adolescent girls are also associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression than among boys. The results confirm that the Present Overall Life Satisfaction (POLS) is a good indicator of subjective well-being, since it captures core aspects that are considered to form part of that construct. That said, it is also evident that it captures different aspects than those of traditional indicators based on contextfree scales, thereby opening new avenues of research to better understanding how adolescents evaluate their overall satisfaction with life. Keywords Adolescents . Life satisfaction . Subjective well-being . Anxiety . Depression .
Time axis In recent years, interest has grown in studying life satisfaction among adolescents. Life satisfaction is understood as the overall assessment that a person makes about their life by comparing what they have achieved with their challenges and expectations * Maria Aymerich [email protected]
1
Institute of Research on Quality of Life (IRQV), University of Girona, 917071 Girona, Spain
M. Aymerich, F. Casas
(Dieneret al. 1985a; Veenhoven 1996). This definition is equally applicable to adults and adolescents (González-Carrasco et al. 2017). Although early work in the field focused on objective indicators of quality of life (e.g., access to health, educational or recreational resources), researchers have now turned their attention to subjective indicators, including subjective well-being (SWB). Nowadays, subjective well-being (SWB) is considered to comprise three components of one’s own experience: positive affect (the frequency of positive emotions, such as joy or pride), negative affect (the frequency of negative emotions, such as anger or sadness), and a cognitive process related to the overall percieved quality of life or life satisfaction (Huebner et al.
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