Levels and Demographic Correlates of Adolescent Life Satisfaction Reports

Abstract

This study assessed the levels and demographic correlates of adolescents' perceptions of their overall life satisfaction and satisfaction with five specific domains of their lives (i.e. family, friends, school, self, living environment). Data were collected from 5545 students in public high schools in South Carolina, USA as part of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey of the Center for Disease Control. Similar to findings in studies of adults, the results revealed that most adolescents reported positive levels of life satisfaction, both with respect to global and domain-specific life satisfaction. Global and family reports were not related to gender, race or grade level. Although not large, some race and gender effects were suggested for the other specific domains. Relative to the other satisfaction domains, these adolescents reported most dissatisfaction with their school experiences. Implications for future research, theory and practice related to adolescent well-being were discussed.