Internalizing behaviors in adolescence: The unique contribution of life satisfaction beyond positive and negative affect

Abstract

Previous research has established robust associations between adolescent subjective well-being (SWB) and internalizing behaviors, such as depression and anxiety. However, most studies have limited their focus to the relations between life satisfaction and internalizing behaviors. The current study examined the unique contributions of both cognitive (life satisfaction) and affective (positive and negative affect) components of SWB to global internalizing behaviors, depression, and anxiety in adolescence. The sample included 275 adolescents (50.2% female), with a mean age 16.64 years (SD = 1.02). The strongest predictor of global internalizing behaviors and anxiety was negative affect, followed by life satisfaction. Negative affect and life satisfaction had similar unique contributions to explaining depression. Positive affect was a significant predictor of depression, whereas its unique contribution to global internalizing behaviors and anxiety was negligible. Our findings support the importance of including both cognitive and affective dimensions of SWB when examining its associations with internalizing behaviors in adolescence. In addition, the results show that different measures of internalizing behaviors yield different associations with SWB indicators, and that a similar pattern of results is obtained using different measures of adolescent life satisfaction.