Assessment and promotion of life satisfaction in youth

Abstract

As the field of positive psychology advances, researchers have shown that positive mental health is more than the absence of psychopathology . Comprehensive models of mental health require considerations of well-being and ill-being constructs (Antaramian et al. 2010 ; Greenspoon and Saklofske 2001 ; Suldo and Shaffer 2008 ). Life satisfaction (LS) is one key well-being construct in positive psychology. Life satisfaction is defined as a cognitive judgment of one's perceived quality of life as a whole or with specific domains, such as family relations, work, and health (Diener 1984 ). Studies of the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of LS of adults have proliferated over the years. However, studies with children and adolescents have been limited. Fortunately, the number of studies of children's LS has grown significantly in the last decade (see C. L. Proctor et al. 2009a , b for a review).