Life Satisfaction in Adolescents: The Role of Individual and Social Health Assets

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between adolescents' life satisfaction and individual and social health assets. A nationally representative sample of 3,494 Portuguese adolescents (mean age = 14.94 +/- 1.30 years; 53.6% girls) completed the Health Behavior in School-aged Children survey measuring a variety of health behaviors and beliefs. A sequential regression analysis was conducted with gender, individual assets (academic achievement, social competence, self-regulation and life objectives) and social assets (family support, peer support, parental monitoring and school connectedness) entered in separate steps. A second regression analysis was conducted with social assets entered before individual assets. The final model explained 18.3% of life satisfaction. School connectedness ( = .198, p < .001) and family support ( = .154, p < .001) were the strongest predictors of adolescents' life satisfaction followed by social competence ( = .152, p < .001), academic achievement ( = .116, p < .001) and self-regulation ( = .064, p < .001). Social assets explained a larger variance of life satisfaction than individual assets when entered first in the regression (r(2) = .134 and r(2) = .119, respectively, p < .001). When entered last step in the regression analysis, social assets added more to life satisfaction's variance than when individual assets were added in the last step (r(2) = .060 and r(2) = .045, respectively, p < .001). These results reinforce the role social interaction and social capital models in the promotion of well-being.