Determinants of life satisfaction among teenagers in the United States

Life satisfaction, or an individual’s current evaluation of their life as a whole, is an important part of overall health and well-being. However, few U.S. studies examine life satisfaction among teenagers, and fewer have focused on factors that may influence life satisfaction during this developmental period using more recent data sources from the past two decades. Using data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and its follow-back survey of teenagers, NHIS-Teen, a series of multinomial logistic regression models were constructed to examine associations between life satisfaction and sociodemographic characteristics, health status, health behaviors, and psychosocial factors. In the fully adjusted models, odds of high life satisfaction were higher among males, teenagers with at least two adults living in the household, positive health behaviors, and social support. Odds of high life satisfaction were lower among older teenagers, teenagers with mental health disorders, negative health behaviors, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and experiences with bullying. Findings from the present study align with previous work suggesting the importance of social support for life satisfaction among teenagers and expands on previous work by investigating other factors. Future work may focus on understanding the mechanisms behind these associations.