Depressive Symptoms and Life Satisfaction Among Emerging Adults: A Comparison of High School Dropouts and Graduates

Abstract

Using three waves of data (1998, 2000, 2002) on 1,325 emerging adults, we examined depressive symptoms and life satisfaction among a diverse group of high school dropouts and graduates. Emerging adults who left school without graduating were significantly more depressed and reported lower life satisfaction than graduates at the time of their expected graduation (T1), but these differences were nonsignificant 4 years later (T3). Working within an ecological developmental framework (Bronfenbrenner 1977(Bronfenbrenner , 1986, we found that graduation status, household composition, family general and transition specific support, peer support, and adolescent attachment styles protected against adverse mental health consequences at T1. However, only parent and peer support and attachment predicted changes in depressive symptoms and life satisfaction from T1 to T3.

Different uses of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory in public mental health research: what is their value for guiding public mental health policy and practice?

“…Our review suggests, in line with others (Tudge et al 2009;Tudge et al 2016), that the later version of Bronfenbrenner's theory is still less utilized in research, including the field of public mental health. Liem et al (2010) used longitudinal data from a random sample of young people in Boston, USA, to explore differences in mental health outcomes (depressive symptoms, life satisfaction) between high school dropouts and graduates, while Williams and Nelson-Gardell (2012) used data from the US National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being to examine factors predicting resilience in sexually abused adolescents. Both these studies used all or some elements from the PPCT model to analyse factors positively and negatively associated with mental health outcomes for different population groups.…”

Family Support and Subjective Well-Being: An Exploratory Study of University Students in Southern Chile

“…Ong et al's study, based on 400 parent-and-child dyads interviewed in Singapore (children aged 15-19 years), reported that children of families with household income groups within SGD 1,000-9,999 are more satisfied with life as compared to children of families with household income above SGD 10,000. Also, differences in students' satisfaction with life have been determined according to ethnic origin (Huebner et al 2004;Schnettler et al 2011), family structure (Zullig et al 2005;Liem et al 2010), place of residence (Dela Coleta and Dela Coleta 2006;Ren 2009;Schnettler et al 2011), living conditions (Chow 2005), occupation (McGrath et al 2009;Schnettler et al 2011) and education level of the head of the household (Karairmak and Sivis 2011). Huebner et al (2004), using the Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale in a sample of 5,034 adolescents in Grades 9 through 12 at public high schools in South Carolina, USA, reported significant differences in terms of race among students, such that Caucasians reported higher life satisfaction than African-Americans.…”

“…In terms of family structure, Zullig et al (2005) in a state-wide sample of 13-18 years old adolescents (n = 4,914) in South Carolina, USA, detected that several aspects of family structure are negatively related to life satisfaction, including: (1) living with other relatives, non-relatives, and guardians; (2) living with fathers only; and (3) living with mothers and another adult(s). Liem et al (2010) reported that household composition was a significant predictor of life satisfaction in a sample of 1,325 emerging adults (mean age 18.08 years) in Boston, USA. In relation to the place of residence and living conditions, Dela Coleta and Dela Coleta (2006) indicated that students who attend universities in large cities report higher life satisfaction than those studying in small cities.…”

Friendship Quality and Subjective Happiness: The Mediator Role of Subjective Vitality

“…Önceki araştırmalar öznel mutluluğun; iyi olmaya yönelik benlik algıları (Diener, 2000;Suh, Diener, Oishi ve Triandi, 1998), olumlu öz-değerlendirme (Cheng ve Furnham, 2004), psikolojik sağlık (Liem, Lustig ve Dillon, 2010), yaşam doyumu (Garcia ve Siddiqui, 2009), doyurucu ilişkiler ve olumlu duygulanım (Diener ve Seligman, 2002) ve öz-güçlendirici yargılarla (Lee ve Im, 2007) pozitif, depresif semptomlar (Chaplin, 2006) ve internet bağımlılığı (Akın, 2012) …”