Validating a measure of life satisfaction in older adolescents and testing invariance across time and gender

Defining and Measuring Child and Youth Thriving: A Scoping Review

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Promoting positive child and youth health and development requires clear definitions and comprehensive measures of child and youth thriving. The study's objectives were to identify the scope, range, and gaps in definitions and measures of thriving for children or youth (birth through young adult).

METHODS

Systematic searches of Pubmed, PsycInfo, Health and Psychosocial Instruments, Education Resources Information Center, and Scopus were conducted for articles that included definitions, conceptual frameworks, or measures of child and youth thriving. Inclusion criteria were that the articles: (1) provided a new definition or measure of child thriving, flourishing, or well-being; (2) focused on normally developing children 0 to 24 years old; and (3) were published between 2009 and 2022 in an English language peer-reviewed journal. Studies were categorized by child age, study type, population, and community-identified domains of thriving.

RESULTS

Of the 14 920 articles identified, 113 met inclusion criteria: 34 unique definitions or frameworks, 66 validated measures, and 12 articles presenting both a framework and measure. One-third of the articles focused on early childhood (0-5 years old); 47% on middle childhood (6-11 years old); 72% on adolescence (12-17 years old), and 22% on young adults (18-24 years old).

CONCLUSIONS

Current child thriving definitions, frameworks, and measures could be expanded in their coverage of age and key domains, such as racial equity and safety. Additional frameworks and measures focused on early childhood (0-5 years) and assessing thriving over time are needed.

Satisfaction with life, depression, anxiety, and stress among adolescent girls in Tehran: a cross sectional study

OBJECTIVE AND BACKGROUND

Mental health is a widespread field that entails variables such as the presence of positive feelings like satisfaction with life and lack of negative emotions like depression, anxiety, and stress. This research aimed to study the prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, and satisfaction with life as dimensions of adolescent girls' mental health in Tehran.

METHODOLOGY

The population considered in this cross-sectional study consisted of adolescent girls in the last grade of high school in Tehran. Research samples were selected using multi-stage sampling. The sample size in this study was 491 and the research tools used were standardized questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics included Spearman, ANOVA, and regression tests were used.

FINDINGS

More than half of the adolescents experienced common symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. About 30% of adolescents were dissatisfied with life to some extent. Satisfaction with life was negatively correlated with age, depression, anxiety, and stress. Age and depression were predictor variables of life satisfaction based on the regression model.

CONCLUSION

A considerable percentage of adolescents suffered some form of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms and were notably dissatisfied with life. Regarding the importance of satisfaction with life in having a joyful life and its role in initiating depression, anxiety, and stress, our findings highlight the need for interventions to prevent depression, anxiety, and stress and enhance life satisfaction among adolescents.

Multi-track pension system and life satisfaction of urban elders in China

There exist three pension systems for urban older residents in China: the pension for government and public institutions (PGPI), the worker's old-age insurance for enterprise employees (WOI) and the urban residents’ social pension insurance (URSPI). This study examines how this multi-track pension system relates to older urbanites’ life satisfaction. The ordered logistic regression model was fitted to analyse the urban sample of the China Longitudinal Ageing Social Survey (60+ years), a nationwide representative survey collected in 2014. The mediation analyses were further adopted to investigate the potential formative mechanisms. A significantly higher level of life satisfaction was detected for those who receive PGPI benefits relative to those who have access to URSPI and WOI, but no significant difference is detected between URSPI and WOI. Further analyses suggest that the advantage of PGPI in terms of life satisfaction is mediated not through monetary resources, but through the dispositional factor of perceived self-value for the society. This study suggests that different institutional configurations of the pension system stratify older urbanites’ subjective wellbeing by virtue of factors that are associated with people's capabilities of acting and functioning.