School Connectedness, Self-Esteem, and Adolescent Life Satisfaction

Abstract

We collected data from 652 students enrolled in grades 5-12 in a rural southern school district to identify whether a pair of self-appraised social constructs could significantly predict adolescent life satisfaction. Using a simultaneous multiple regression analysis, we found that both self-esteem and school connectedness significantly predicted life satisfaction among adolescents, accounting for 40% of the variance in our outcome variable. Considering these results, we present several practice-based recommendations for professional school counselors interested in promoting life satisfaction with their students.