Modelling life satisfaction of Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong

The influence of self-concept and relationship on life satisfaction of adol escents was examined in 1099 Hong Kong Chinese junior high school children. Based on past research, it was hypothesised that self-concept and relation ship are not independent of each other, and that they both have direct cont ribution toward the perception of life satisfaction in adolescents. Data we re analysed using the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. To tes t our hypotheses, we first proposed a structural model with self-concept an d relationship as latent constructs and predictors of life satisfaction. Th e data collected were then fitted to the model by SEM. The results generall y showed that the data fit the model well and that our hypotheses were conf irmed. Specifically, it was demonstrated that the relationship construct ex erts a greater influence on life satisfaction than the self-concept constru ct. For the relationship construct, parent-child relationship is much more important than school-child relationship. The resultant structural model th erefore provides a concise summary of the existing data on life satisfactio n of adolescents but its general application requires replication and valid ation in other cultural contexts.