{"title":"Subjective Well-Being and Self-Assessed Health of Adolescents: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.","authors":"Ivica Matić, Vera Musil","doi":"10.3390/ejihpe13120197","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The aim of this study was to investigate the stability and predictors of subjective well-being and self-perceived health in adolescents over a two-year period, focusing on the importance of mental health in overall well-being.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants in this longitudinal cohort study were surveyed at the ages of 15 (<i>n</i> = 441) and 17 (<i>n</i> = 354) through questionnaires. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Hierarchical regression was employed to investigate significant predictors of subjective well-being. The subjective well-being and self-perceived health dimensions showed a consistent level of stability throughout the two-year period of secondary education. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between well-being at the beginning and end of this education period. Furthermore, self-perceived health dimensions, particularly general health, vitality, and mental health, were positively associated with well-being at the end of secondary education, highlighting their role in overall subjective well-being. The regression analysis revealed that self-perceived health factors, notably \"General health\" and \"Mental health\", significantly predicted overall subjective well-being, enhancing the model's explanatory power beyond gender and economic status. Nevertheless, baseline subjective well-being has the strongest predictive effect on final well-being.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study highlights the importance of psychological and health factors, particularly mental health, that affect the overall well-being of adolescents and emphasizes the need to focus on and improve these factors in order to improve subjective well-being.</p>","PeriodicalId":30631,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10742589/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe13120197","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the stability and predictors of subjective well-being and self-perceived health in adolescents over a two-year period, focusing on the importance of mental health in overall well-being.
Methods: Participants in this longitudinal cohort study were surveyed at the ages of 15 (n = 441) and 17 (n = 354) through questionnaires. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Hierarchical regression was employed to investigate significant predictors of subjective well-being. The subjective well-being and self-perceived health dimensions showed a consistent level of stability throughout the two-year period of secondary education. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between well-being at the beginning and end of this education period. Furthermore, self-perceived health dimensions, particularly general health, vitality, and mental health, were positively associated with well-being at the end of secondary education, highlighting their role in overall subjective well-being. The regression analysis revealed that self-perceived health factors, notably "General health" and "Mental health", significantly predicted overall subjective well-being, enhancing the model's explanatory power beyond gender and economic status. Nevertheless, baseline subjective well-being has the strongest predictive effect on final well-being.
Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of psychological and health factors, particularly mental health, that affect the overall well-being of adolescents and emphasizes the need to focus on and improve these factors in order to improve subjective well-being.