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Adolescents’ Personality Traits and Positive Psychological Orientations: Relations with Emotional Distress and Life Satisfaction Mediated by School Connectedness

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  • Eui Kyung Kim

    (North Carolina State University)

  • Michael J. Furlong

    (University of California, Santa Barbara)

  • Erin Dowdy

    (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Abstract

Contemporary models emphasize linkages between malleable positive psychological orientations and enhanced quality of life. As such, it is important to consider if these positive orientations provide unique explanatory power beyond the long-established relations between quality of life and within-person, less malleable personality traits. This study contributed to the literature by examining the relations among adolescents’ personality traits, positive psychology orientations, and self-reported quality of life indicators. These relations were further examined by considering the mediating effects of the important contextual influences of school connectedness. Self-report responses of 1867 California high school students to an 88-item schoolwide online survey that included the Big Five Inventory-10 (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness), the Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary (Belief in Self, Belief in Others, Emotional Competence, and Engaged Living), the School Connectedness Scale, the Brief Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale, and the Social Emotional Distress Scale-Secondary were used to examine relations. Stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that after controlling for demographic variables (Block 1: sex, grade, and ethnicity) the personality traits (Block 2) were, as expected, significantly associated with life satisfaction and emotional distress. Supporting study hypotheses, the inclusion of positive psychological orientations (Block 3) explained significantly more variance of students’ life satisfaction (△R2 = 26%) and emotional distress (△R2 = 5%). Mediation analyses using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) found that only positive psychological orientations had significant indirect relations with quality of life through school connectedness. Implications and future research and practice are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Eui Kyung Kim & Michael J. Furlong & Erin Dowdy, 2019. "Adolescents’ Personality Traits and Positive Psychological Orientations: Relations with Emotional Distress and Life Satisfaction Mediated by School Connectedness," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(6), pages 1951-1969, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:12:y:2019:i:6:d:10.1007_s12187-019-9619-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-019-9619-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Michael Furlong & Sukkyung You & Tyler Renshaw & Douglas Smith & Meagan O’Malley, 2014. "Preliminary Development and Validation of the Social and Emotional Health Survey for Secondary School Students," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 1011-1032, July.
    2. Joyce, Hilary D. & Early, Theresa J., 2014. "The impact of school connectedness and teacher support on depressive symptoms in adolescents: A multilevel analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 101-107.
    3. Zi Jia Ng & Eugene Scott Huebner & Alberto Maydeu-Olivares & Kimberly Joy Hills, 2018. "Confirmatory Factor Analytic Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) in a Longitudinal Sample of Adolescents," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(4), pages 1237-1247, August.
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    5. Livy Fogle & E. Scott Huebner & James Laughlin, 2002. "The Relationship between Temperament and Life Satisfaction in Early Adolescence: Cognitive and Behavioral Mediation Models," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 373-392, December.
    6. Julie Seligson & E. Huebner & Robert Valois, 2003. "Preliminary Validation of the Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 121-145, February.
    7. Shannon Suldo & Devon Minch & Brittany Hearon, 2015. "Adolescent Life Satisfaction and Personality Characteristics: Investigating Relationships Using a Five Factor Model," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 965-983, August.
    8. Seung-yeon Lee & Sukkyung You & Michael J. Furlong, 2016. "Validation of the Social Emotional Health Survey–Secondary for Korean Students," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 9(1), pages 73-92, March.
    9. Carmel Proctor & P. Linley & John Maltby, 2010. "Very Happy Youths: Benefits of Very High Life Satisfaction Among Adolescents," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 98(3), pages 519-532, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ni, Xiaoli & Li, Xiaoran & Wang, Yuping, 2021. "The impact of family environment on the life satisfaction among young adults with personality as a mediator," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    2. Gökmen Arslan & Kelly-Ann Allen & Ahmet Tanhan, 2021. "School Bullying, Mental Health, and Wellbeing in Adolescents: Mediating Impact of Positive Psychological Orientations," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(3), pages 1007-1026, June.
    3. Jose A. Piqueras & Tiscar Rodriguez-Jimenez & Juan Carlos Marzo & Maria Rivera-Riquelme & Agustin E. Martinez-Gonzalez & Raquel Falco & Michael J. Furlong, 2019. "Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary (SEHS-S): A Universal Screening Measure of Social-Emotional Strengths for Spanish-Speaking Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-16, December.

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