Ecological, Relationship-Based Model of 12-year-old Children’s Subjective Well-being in the United States and Ten Other Countries

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the international relevance of an ecological, relationship-based model of children’s subjective well-being with samples of 12-year-old children from the United States (n = 784; M_age = 12.63, SD = .55) and 10 other countries: Algeria, Brazil, Chile, England, Israel, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, and Uganda (n = 784, M_age = 12.06, SD = .61). To measure subjective well-being, all children completed the Children’s Worlds survey, which includes individual factors, contextual factors of home and family, life and neighborhood, school, and peers, and subjective well-being measures for life satisfaction, mental health, and self-image. The strongest predictors of subjective child well-being were relationships, school, gender, and neighborhood quality. The results suggest an ecological, relationship-based model of children’s subjective well-being is relevant for studying samples of International children.

Keywords: Childhood; Well-Being; Ecological Context; Relationships; International.