Journal
QUALITY OF LIFE RESEARCH
Volume 16, Issue 6, Pages 969-979Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11136-007-9205-5
Keywords
adolescence; age effects; gender effects; life satisfaction; quality of life
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Objective Adolescence is a developmental phase associated with significant somatic and psychosocial changes. So far there are few studies on developmental aspects of life satisfaction. This cross-sectional study examines the effects of age and gender on adolescent's life satisfaction. Methods 1,274 German adolescents (aged 11-16 years) participated in a school-based survey study. They completed the adolescent version of the Questions on Life Satisfaction (FLZ(M) - Fragen zur Lebenszufriedenheit), a multidimensional instrument measuring the subjective importance and satisfaction with eight domains of general and eight domains of health-related life satisfaction. Effects of gender and age were analysed using ANOVAs. Results Girls reported significantly lower general (F = 5.0; p =.025) and health-related life satisfaction (F = 25.3; p < .001) compared to boys. In both genders and across nearly all life domains, there was a significant decrease in general (F = 14.8; p <.001) and health-related life satisfaction (F = 8.0; p <.001) between 11 and 16 years. Satisfaction with friends remained on a high level, whereas satisfaction with family relations decreased. Only satisfaction with partnership/sexuality increased slightly, however this effect cannot compensate the general loss of satisfaction. Conclusions Decreasing life satisfaction has to be considered as a developmental phenomenon. Associations with the increasing prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation during adolescence are discussed. Life satisfaction should be considered a relevant aspect of adolescent's well-being and functioning.
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