New Empirical Evidence on the Validity of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in Early Adolescents

Abstract

This paper presents new empirical evidence regarding the validity of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in a large sample of early adolescents. A group of 903 Spanish adolescents aged 12 to 14 years completed a battery of questionnaires in order to assess life satisfaction, emotional and behavioral problems, trait aggressiveness, peer aggression, stress, and parental style. A moderately high level of life satisfaction was reported and no differences were found according to sex or school year. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a one-factor structure for the SWLS. Correlation analysis showed that life satisfaction had a moderate positive correlation with parental affect, and negative correlations with externalizing and internalizing behaviors, aggression, stress, and parental criticism. Regression analysis revealed that early adolescents report greater life satisfaction when they perceive high levels of maternal affect and low levels of internalizing problems, hostility, stress, and parental criticism. These results show that the inclusion of intrapersonal and environmental variables can further our understanding of life satisfaction in early adolescents and suggest that intervention programs designed to promote this should consider these variables.