Investigating the role of family travel and family functioning in promoting Chinese adolescents’ subjective wellbeing

Abstract

The present study investigated the role of family travel and perceived family functioning (i.e., cohesion and adaptability) on changes in Chinese adolescents’ subjective wellbeing (i.e., global life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect). A pre and post-holiday repeated measures research design was employed. Middle school adolescents aged 12–15 years old from Mainland China (n = 675) were surveyed before and after the 2016 Labor holiday. Our results suggested that adolescent travelers experienced a significant increase in subjective wellbeing (SWB) from before to after the holiday. Additionally, travelers had significantly higher post-holiday SWB than adolescents who did not travel with their family during the holiday. Moreover, results of hierarchical regression analyses suggested that perceived family cohesion significantly influenced changes to adolescents’ SWB from before to after the holiday; and travel moderated the relationship between perceived family cohesion and changes in negative affect. Implications of this study, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.