Different single-item and multiple-item scales are used as subjective indicators of well-being in the international arena. However, very few cross-cultural studies exist into subjective indicators of well-being among adolescent populations. In this study, three different multi-item scales, variations of these scales and several single items -all of them previously used separately in international research-were tested together on 12 to 16-year-old adolescents in 4 different countries with Latin-based languages (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Spain). The scales are the PWI (Cummins, Eckersley, van Pallant, Vugt, Misajon, et al.

The 7-item adult version of the Personal Wellbeing scale (Cummins et al. Social Indic Res 64:159-190, 2003) was administered to two samples of adolescents aged 12-16 in Brazil (N = 1,588) and Spain (N = 2,900), and to a sample of adolescents aged 14-16 in Chile (N = 843). The results obtained were analyzed to determine its psychometric characteristics when used with adolescents in the three different countries and to check whether two additional items would improve its qualities. Results reveal that the new PWI-9 version worked well with the adolescents in the three countries, improving some of the qualities of the PWI-7. One of the added items, satisfaction with oneself, appears to be a major contributor to unique explained variance when regressed on the single-item of overall life satisfaction (OLS). The model we present using structural equations shows good fit statistics for the factor structure, with both 7 and 9 items. Separate in-country analyses demonstrate that cultural context has a strong influence on correlations and saturations between the studied variables and also on the explained variance. Probably related to this fact, the Model fit structure is good in Brazil (with a low PWI variance accounted for by its predictors) and Spain (medium), but rather modest in Chile, where data show a high proportion of the PWI variance accounted for by its predictors. However, a multi-group factor analysis among the three countries restricting saturations to 1 in each country in order to make data comparable across countries still show a good fit of the proposed model for both PWI-7 and PWI-9.

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El objetivo del estudio fue analizar la relación entre diversos aspectos de la experiencia escolar con la satisfacción escolar y la satisfacción global con la vida en una muestra aleatoria estratificada de 1.433 estudiantes de 10 a 14 años de 3 ciudades de Chile (791 hombres y 642 mujeres). Se utilizó la Escala de Satisfacción Global con la Vida, el Índice General de Satisfacción por Ámbitos y la International Survey on Children's Well-Being. Diez predictores fueron analizados con regresión lineal múltiple, ajustándose modelos que explicaron la varianza de la satisfacción global con la vida y de la satisfacción escolar en un 6% y un 36%, respectivamente. Particularmente, la satisfacción con las notas y la satisfacción con los compañeros fueron los mejores predictores de los modelos evaluados. Mediante regresión logística binaria, el modelo ajustado explicó el 76% de la varianza de satisfacción escolar, clasificando correctamente un 87% de los casos. En general, estos resultados identifican algunos determinantes del contexto escolar que afectan la satisfacción de los escolares y que pueden ser usados en futuras investigaciones e intervenciones.Palabras clave: bienestar subjetivo, satisfacción escolar, satisfacción con la vida, infancia, adolescenciaThe aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between various aspects of the school experience with school satisfaction and overall life satisfaction. Data was collected from a stratified random sample of 1,433 students aged 10 to 14 years (791 men and 642 women) from 3 Chilean cities. The study used the Overall Life Satisfaction Scale (OLS), the General Index of Domains Satisfaction, and the International Survey on Children's Well-Being. Ten predictors were evaluated through multiple linear regression, adjusting models that explained 6% of the variance in OLS and 36% of the variance in school satisfaction. In particular, satisfaction with grades and satisfaction with peers were the best predictors of the models tested. Through binary logistic regression, the adjusted model explained 76% of the variance of school satisfaction, correctly classifying 87% of the cases. Overall, these results identify some determinants in school settings which can affect pupils' satisfaction and which may be used in future research and interventions.Keywords: subjective well-being, school satisfaction, life satisfaction, childhood, adolescence El bienestar subjetivo es un concepto que puede aportar a la comprensión de las dinámicas de la escuela. Los estudios en niñez pueden contribuir muchísimo a describir si las interacciones que suceden en la escuela son determinantes de bienestar o malestar. La literatura sobre bienestar subjetivo entrega distinciones relevantes para caracterizar las evaluaciones de satisfacción en la infancia. Noción de Satisfacción con la Vida y Relevancia de su Estudio en la NiñezSegún Cummins, Eckersley, Pallant, van Vugt y Misajon (2003), la esencia de la noción bienestar subjetivo se refiere a las evaluaciones que hace una persona sobre la satisfacción per...

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Several theoretical models and testing procedures are presented with the aim of identifying the most relevant items and domains to include in a model for evaluating adolescents' subjective well-being, above and beyond those usually included in adults' scales. Data were collected in three countries based on a list of 30 items regarding adolescents' satisfaction with different domains or facets of life. Responses to these 30 items (including Personal Well-Being Index and Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale items) have been analysed by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis using different Structural Equation Models (SEM) on a pooled sample comprising 5,316 twelve to sixteen-year-olds from Spain, Brazil and Chile. Several models have shown good enough fit statistics. A model using 14 items shows excellent fit statistics and is conceptually coherent. However, the inclusion or non-inclusion of items related to satisfaction with religion or spirituality results in both advantages and disadvantages when comparing the alternative models analysed. The relevance of including these items may therefore depend on the socio-cultural context where data are collected and their inclusion makes cross-country comparison more statistically challenging. The 14-item model has also been tested using multigroup SEM in order to check comparability of data among the three countries. All things considered, multigroup models have shown good fit with constrained loadings, but not with constrained loadings and intercepts, suggesting we can compare correlations and regressions among countries, but not means. Additional multigroup SEM with the five age groups available from the pooled sample have demonstrated that responses-and means-are comparable across different age groups during early adolescenceSpanish data were collected with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science grant SEJ2007-62813/P