The Subjective Well-Being of Chilean Children Living in Conditions of High Social Vulnerability

This article analyzes the subjective well-being and life satisfaction of 1033 Chilean children (507 girls and 526 boys) aged 9 to 14 years (M = 11.02, SD = 1.18) living in the socio-economic state of poverty. Different subjective well-being scales were administered to assess both affective and cognitive components, be they context-free or different domains of life satisfaction, including the use of free time. A structural equation modelling was put to the test measuring to what degree the various components of well-being were correlated to a second order latent variable showing good fit. Later, the general results returned middle high scores on these scales with significant differences found by gender, especially for affective and overall life satisfaction components. Boys displayed higher overall subjective well-being scores than girls. These differences were less evident when assessing the subjective well-being in specific domains; the boys’ and girls’ scores were closer here. These results are discussed along with their contributions toward understanding subjective well-being in childhood as a complex, multi-faceted concept. These findings may turn out to be particularly interesting when it comes to designing and evaluating public policies geared toward children by providing evidence that supports the inclusion of socio-emotional and relational variables in the promotion of improved quality of life for children living in poverty.