Family Climate and Life Satisfaction in 12-Year-Old Adolescents in Europe

Diego Gomez-Baya,Alicia Muñoz-Silva,Francisco Jose Garcia-Moro

doi:10.3390/su12155902

Abstract

This research aimed to examine the association between life satisfaction and family climate indicators in 12-year-old European adolescents. Cross-sectional data from the second wave of the Children’s Worlds project—an international survey of children’s lives and well-being—were examined. Specifically, data from participating European countries were analyzed: i.e., Estonia, Spain, Germany, England, Romania, Norway, Poland, and Malta. This sample of 9281 adolescents (50.3% girls) filled in self-report measures of life satisfaction and some indicators of family climate. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were performed by country. Furthermore, a confirmatory model was tested to examine the association between family climate and life satisfaction. The results pointed out that having a good time together with family and being treated fairly by parents/carers were the indicators with the greatest positive effects on life satisfaction. In general, a more positive family climate was associated with higher life satisfaction among 12-year-old adolescents in the participating eight European countries.

Highlights

Research to explore the opinions and perceptions of adolescents about their well-being is highly necessary [1,2] in order to incorporate that knowledge into the design of plans and programs that would positively result in their healthy development, either from the point of view of prevention or as treatment and rehabilitation
Climate: this scale was created based on five indicators, which represented some characteristics of family climate—i.e., “I feel safe at home,” “I have a quiet place to study at home,” “my parents listen to me and take what I say into account,” “we have a good time together in my family,” and “my parents treat me fairly.”
A confirmatory factor analysis proved good factorial validity, reaching a good overall data fit: χ2 (5, N = 9281) = 179.52, p < 0.001, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.988, goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.992, standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.02, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.063, 90% confidence interval (CI) of RMSEA = 0.055–0.071

Summary

Introduction

Research to explore the opinions and perceptions of adolescents about their well-being is highly necessary [1,2] in order to incorporate that knowledge into the design of plans and programs that would positively result in their healthy development, either from the point of view of prevention or as treatment and rehabilitation In this sense, this knowledge can contribute to the fact that, among others, political, social, educational, and psychological actions in the field of childhood and adolescence are characterized by a principle of reality and usefulness insofar as it is based on first-hand information [3,4]. Subjective well-being should be fostered from the integration of the possible psychosocial actions: i.e., the individual dimensions with the socio-communitarian ones [11]

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Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion