Understanding youth well-being in the family context: the role of democracy, warmth, and disclosure

This study applies a nonexperimental quantitative design to investigate youth well-being within the family context. Structural equation model analyses of information from 1883 seventh grade youths revealed: Democratic parenting (beta = 0.43, p < .001), maternal warmth (beta = 0.23, p < .001), and paternal warmth (beta = 0.43, p < .05) were positively associated with youth disclosure, which in turn was associated with academic (beta = 0.44, p < .001), emotional (beta = 0.13, p < .05), and social (beta = 0.43, p < .001) well-being the following year; paternal warmth and emotional well-being were directly linked (beta = 0.16, p < .01); and youth disclosure and emotional well-being were associated stronger for girls (beta = 0.33, p < .001) compared to boys (beta = 0.11, p > .05). Future well-being research should consider parent-youth relationships, and youths could be involved in family policy-making and fostering supportive family environments.

Automated summary

This study uses a nonexperimental quantitative design to explore youth well-being within the family context. The results suggest that democratic parenting, maternal warmth, and paternal warmth are positively associated with youth disclosure, which in turn is related to academic, emotional, and social well-being. Additionally, paternal warmth is directly linked to emotional well-being, and the association between youth disclosure and emotional well-being is stronger for girls compared to boys.