Abstract
This study aimed to test a structural model to examine the protective role of psychosocial variables, such as social support, emotional intelligence and their interaction, on the cognitive dimension of subjective positive well-being (life satisfaction) and negative well-being (depression) in Moroccan adolescents. The participants consisted of 1277 students (571 men, 694 women and 12 missing values) with a mean age of 16.15 years (SD = 2.22; range = 9 to 23) who attended 26 public schools in different territories of Morocco. These students were in secondary education (n = 893) and high school (n = 378) (6 missing values). The scales for measuring the variables of interest had to be adapted and validated as a previous step for the further proposal of a model of relations. Statistical analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the proposed model. The model that optimally adjusted the data confirmed the protective role of social support in the well-being of Moroccan adolescents. Consistent with previous studies, social support was directly related to well-being. However, it also modulated levels of satisfaction with life. Likewise, the inclusion of emotional intelligence as an additional protective factor contributed to the explanation of the well-being mechanisms in adolescents. In addition to direct associations with the levels of social support, satisfaction with life and depression (negative in the latter case), emotional intelligence participated in a complex chain affecting life satisfaction and life satisfaction affecting depression. Moreover, the interaction of emotional intelligence with social support was confirmed to determine levels of life satisfaction in adolescents. Specifically, social support multiplied the effects of the relationship between satisfaction with life and emotional intelligence in cases of moderate and high levels in Moroccan adolescents. This study fills a gap in the literature by adapting and further analyzing several scales with Moroccan samples of adolescents and by proposing and verifying a relational model that can help researchers and teachers to more precisely clarify these relations according to their context. The enhancement of protective factors, such as social support and emotional intelligence, will promote healthy youth development, thus creating healthier societies in the future.
Highlights
Adolescence is generally considered a dynamic and complex age period
The role of social support is accepted as a protective factor for well-being, but we propose the exploration of the protective role of emotional intelligence to further contribute to knowledge about their relations in Moroccan adolescents
An analysis of discrimination and reliability of each item were performed, as well as the analysis of saturation from McDonald’s omega estimates. The latter did not allow assuring that all the items contributed to the measurement model, that is, to load at least to one of the factors that compounded the original factorial structure and / or to contribute to a general dimension. This analysis led us to omit items 7 (When the situation gets worse, I rely on my friends) and 12 (I can talk with my friends about my problems) of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) scale to measure social support
Summary
Adolescence is generally considered a dynamic and complex age period. there are differences among countries depending on culture (Arnett, 2018), and the results of studies about this period of life may not be generalized to all cultures. In recent decades is it usually associated with the years that coincide with high school education, and it is distinguished by the development of aql, a term referring to social responsibility (Davis and Davis, 2012) Typical behaviors of this stage begin with puberty in the mid-teens for both sexes (beginning earlier in girls than in boys) and extend until marriage, coinciding with the years of training in and learning adult roles; these years are marked by a lack of economic independence (Gregg, 2005). In this period of life, youth development includes feelings of positivity or negativity and consideration of the consequences of one’s actions in adulthood. The role of social support is accepted as a protective factor for well-being, but we propose the exploration of the protective role of emotional intelligence to further contribute to knowledge about their relations in Moroccan adolescents
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