Levels and demographic correlates of adolescent life satisfaction reports

This study assessed the levels and demographic correlates of adolescents' p erceptions of their overall life satisfaction and satisfaction with five sp ecific domains of their lives (i.e. family, friends, school, self, Living e nvironment). Data were collected from 5545 students in public high schools in South Carolina, USA as part of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey of the Cen ter for Disease Control. Similar to findings in studies of adults, the resu lts revealed that most adolescents reported positive levels of life satisfa ction, both with respect to global and domain-specific life satisfaction. G lobal and family reports were not related to gender, race or grade level. A lthough not large, some race and gender effects were suggested for the othe r specific domains. Relative to the other satisfaction domains, these adole scents reported most dissatisfaction with their school experiences. Implica tions for future research, theory and practice related to adolescent well-b eing were discussed.