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

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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.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the youth, families and teachers who participated in this study. The UP&DOWN Study was supported by the DEP 2010-21662-C04-00 grant from the National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation (R + D + i) MICINN. No conflicts of interest are declared.

The manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under submission elsewhere. All authors have reviewed the submitted manuscript and approve the manuscript for submission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Nursing Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Laura Esteban-Gonzalo

  2. Faculty of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Nursing Department, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Calle Tajo s/n. Villaviciosa de Odón, 28670, Madrid, Spain

    Laura Esteban-Gonzalo

  3. Faculty of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Psychology Department, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Sara Esteban-Gonzalo

  4. PROFITH “PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity” Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Irene Esteban-Cornejo

  5. Department of Psychology, Center for Cognitive and Brain Health, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Irene Esteban-Cornejo

  6. Department of Physical Education. Faculty of Education, Universidad de Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain

    Rocío Izquierdo-Gómez, Carmen Padilla-Moledo & José Castro-Piñero

  7. Research Department, Faculty of Education, Universidad Central de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Rocío Izquierdo-Gómez

  8. Department of Physical Education, Sport and Human Motricity, Faculty of Teaching Training and Education, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Oscar L. Veiga

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  1. Laura Esteban-Gonzalo
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Esteban-Gonzalo, L., Esteban-Gonzalo, S., Esteban-Cornejo, I. et al. Wellbeing as a Protective Factor of Adolescent Health. The Up & Down Study. Child Ind Res 13, 1453–1467 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-019-09711-w

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