Italian and Swedish adolescents: differences and associations in subjective well-being and psychological well-being

Abstract

BackgroundOne important aspect of subjective judgments about one’s well-being (i.e., subjective well-being: life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) is that cultural features, such as, nationality seem to shape cognitive judgments about the “the ideal life.” In this comparative study we examined differences in subjective well-being and psychological well-being between Italian and Swedish adolescents and tested if the relationship between the three constructs of subjective well-being (i.e., satisfaction with life, positive affect, and negative affect) and psychological well-being was moderated by the adolescents’ nationality.MethodItalian (n = 255) and Swedish (n = 277) adolescents answered to the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule, and Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-Being. Differences between samples were tested using a Multiple Analysis of Variance. We also conducted a multiple group analysis (Italy and Sweden) using Structural Equation Modelling to investigate the relationship between all three subjective well-being constructs and psychological well-being.ResultsItalian adolescents scored significantly higher in satisfaction with life than Swedish adolescents. Additionally, across countries, girls scored significantly higher in negative affect than boys. In both countries, all three constructs of subjective well-being were significantly associated to adolescents’ psychological well-being. Nevertheless, while the effect of the relationship between affect and psychological well-being was almost the same across countries, life satisfaction was more strongly related to psychological well-being among Swedish adolescents.ConclusionsThe present study shows that there are larger variations between these two cultures in the cognitive construct of subjective well-being than in the affective construct. Accordingly, associations between the cognitive component, not the affective component, of subjective well-being and psychological well-being differ between countries as well.

The moderating role of age and gender differences in the relation between subjective well-being, psychopathology and substance use in Uruguayan adolescents

“…Bivariate analyses showed that -compared to girlsboys had signifi cantly higher levels of SWB. This is in line with prior work (Gonzalez-Carrasco et al, 2017;Garcia, et al, 2017;Brann et al, 2017), including the Latin-American study by Castella and colleagues (2012) that indicated higher levels of SWB among boys than among girls in both Brazil Rev. Latinoam.…”

“…Therefore, further studies on SWB in adolescents are important, in particular in the context of Latin-American countries like Uruguay. Prior research showed that depending on the culture, there are different constructs of what well-being implies (Garcia et al, 2017), which goes hand in hand with the dissimilar emphasis given to interventions to promote it (Ryff, et al 2014).…”

Perfil de bienestar psicológico subjetivo en adolescentes uruguayos

“…Este aspecto del contexto local podría estar influyendo en el autorreporte de los adolescentes, en cuanto a su bajo nivel de BPS con relación a los dominios de seguridad, tema que ya fuera visualizado en un estudio empírico con estos grupos etarios (Daset et al, 2009) Los resultados multidimensionales del bienestar psicológico subjetivo comparando varones y chicas muestran diferencias significativas según el sexo, siendo las chicas las que reportan un menor nivel de bienestar en todos los dominios. Esto coincide con estudios previos internacionales y los realizados en el país (Brann et al, 2017;Casas et al, 2007;Castellá-Sarriera et al, 2012;Fernández et al, 2018;García et al, 2017;Tomyn & Cummins, 2011;Varela et al, 2018). Las posibles explicaciones brindadas refieren a que, el periodo de desarrollo y las pautas culturales, como el impacto de los estereotipos de género sobre la percepción de bienestar, una mayor presión social y más responsabilidades adjudicadas al rol femenino más tradicional, podrían estar incidiendo en estas diferencias.…”

“…La medida global de BPS a través del personal well-being index (PWI) ha demostrado cierta estabilidad en el tiempo y en las diferentes culturas (Lau, Cummins & McPherson, 2005;The International Wellbeing Group, 2013). Sin embargo, dados los procesos biológicos y sociales experimentados en la etapa adolescente, estos podrían llegar a afectar el nivel de BPS (Cummins et al, 2014;García, Sagone, De Caroli & Nima, 2017;Tomyn et al, 2015); por tal razón, en este estudio se amplió el límite de edad de la muestra a los 21 años. En esta línea, el estudio de Rees y Dinisman (2015) compara la experiencia y evaluación sobre los diferentes aspectos de la vida de niños de 8 a 12 años de 11 países, encontrando variaciones significativas en el reporte de su bienestar en los diversos dominios, entre naciones y culturas.…”

The Relationship of Positive Affect with Resilience and Self-Efficacy in Life Skills in Italian Adolescents

“…In Italian context, Di Fabio & Bucci (2015) analyzed the differences among the affective profiles of Italian students in relation with life satisfaction and psychological well-being, noticing that students with self-fulfilling profile had greater life satisfaction and psychological well-being than those with high affective, low affective and self-destructive profiles; in addition, they analyzed the differences among affective profiles in relation with optimism and self-esteem, showing that students with self-fulfilling profile obtained higher scores on optimism and self-esteem than those with the other affective profiles. In another recent study, Garcia et al (2017) examined differences in subjective well-being and psychological well-being between Swedish and Italian adolescents and investigated if the relationships between the three constructs of subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect) and psychological well-being were influenced by the adolescents' nationality. The results showed that life satisfaction was higher in Italian adolescents compared to Swedish adolescents: life satisfaction was more strongly related to psychological well-being among Swedish adolescents.…”