Wellbeing as a Protective Factor of Adolescent Health. The Up & Down Study

Abstract

Prior studies have detected a link between wellbeing and health in adult populations, however little is known of the relation in young people. The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship of subjective wellbeing (evaluative, hedonic and eudemonic) and self-perceived general health in a sample of Spanish adolescents. A cross-sectional analysis was carried out with a sample of 1407 adolescents aged 10–18 included in the third year of the UP&Down Study. Subjective wellbeing was assessed considering a three-dimensional model based on the following components: evaluative, hedonic and eudemonic wellbeing, using the Subjective Happiness Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and the Children’s Hope Scale, respectively. Self-perceived health was employed to measure the health status of adolescents. Logistic regression models were constructed to evaluate relationships between wellbeing and health by sex and age. Increased levels of subjective wellbeing were associated with a lower risk of late adolescent girls and boys reporting poor health and early adolescent girls, with the exception of the evaluative wellbeing, only associated with self-perceived health in late adolescent boys. Subjective wellbeing seems to behave as a protective factor against reporting poor health in adolescent populations.