Psychological Well-Being of Adolescents in South Western Nigeria: Its Association with Sociodemographic Characteristics and Perceived Food Insecurity

Abstract

Psychological well-being (PWB) which is a measure of life satisfaction in adolescence plays a great role in their behavioral lifestyle. The aim of this study was to assess the adolescents’ psychological well-being, its association with perceived food insecurity, and their sociodemographic characteristics. Using multistage random sampling, 352 students from three secondary schools in Ado Local Government in Nigeria were recruited. A self-administered questionnaire adapted from existing literature was used for data collection. About fifty-six percent of the adolescents had high psychological well-being. Most of the students studied had a high estimate of themselves in their self-autonomy and personal growth development. While Tribe (p = 0.032), type of family (p < 0.001), present class (p = 0.039) and class repetition (p = 0.018) were significantly associated with psychological well-being of adolescents, most adolescents had a medium to high food insecurity. Self-autonomy and personal growth development in adolescents are associated with the type of family structure, the higher the social class of the family and the lower of the occurrence of repetition of a class shall be. A stable family environment is beneficial to adolescents.