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Who Matters the Most? The Differential Role of Parents, Teachers, and Peers’ Supportive Relationships in Early Adolescents’ Subjective Well-Being

Author

Listed:
  • Edita Fino

    (Alma Mater Studiorum–Università di Bologna)

  • Migena Kapllanaj

    (University of Tirana)

  • Elisabetta Crocetti

    (Alma Mater Studiorum–Università di Bologna)

  • Monica Rubini

    (Alma Mater Studiorum–Università di Bologna)

Abstract

Adolescent well-being is a multifaceted construct embedded in family, school, and peer socialization contexts. By adopting a social-psychological perspective we examined associations between three sources of support (parents, teachers, and peers) and specific components of subjective well-being (cognitive, affective, global, and domain-specific), to determine whether there is a functional specialization of the role that these socialization agents play in early adolescents’ perceptions of affective well-being and satisfaction with life in different domains. Albanian data from Wave 3 of the Children’s Worlds International Survey were used, including 2339 early adolescents (age range 9–13; girls = 49.3%). A structural equation model (SEM) was employed to examine associations between supportive relationships with parents, teachers, and peers and specific subjective well-being components. Results support a functional specialization hypothesis: Parents’ support was significantly related to global cognitive and affective well-being; teacher support was significantly related to school satisfaction; and peer support was significantly related to all subjective well-being variables (global and domain-based life satisfaction and affective well-being). The present findings contribute to a finer-grained understanding of the role of supportive relationships with adults and peers in proximal socialization contexts (family, school, peer groups) in how early adolescents perceive and evaluate their affective well-being and satisfaction with life globally and in specific domains.

Suggested Citation

  • Edita Fino & Migena Kapllanaj & Elisabetta Crocetti & Monica Rubini, 2025. "Who Matters the Most? The Differential Role of Parents, Teachers, and Peers’ Supportive Relationships in Early Adolescents’ Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 1-19, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10902-024-00856-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-024-00856-2
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