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ResumenEn este estudio se analiza la comparabilidad interlingüística e intercultural del bienestar subjetivo y la satisfacción escolar como componente de dicho bienestar durante la adolescencia, a partir de tres muestras, una de Brasil (n=1588), una de Chile (n=843) y una de España (n=2900), de 12–16 años de edad. Se adoptan como indicadores de bienestar subjetivo dos versiones del personal wellbeing index (PWI) de Cummins, Eckersley, van Pallant, Vugt y Misajon (2003), que lo evalúan por ámbitos, y una escala de ítem único sobre satisfacción general con la vida (overall life satisfaction [OLS]), y como indicadores subjetivos de satisfacción escolar, los seis ítems de satisfacción con distintos aspectos de la vida escolar utilizados por Casas, Baltatescu, Bertrán, González y Hatos (2013). Del PWI se utiliza la versión original (PWI7) y una versión ampliada con diez ítems (PWI10). Ambas versiones del PWI muestran un buen ajuste en los análisis factoriales confirmatorios realizados con las tres muestras agregadas. Mediante análisis de regresión múltiple y modelos de ecuaciones estructurales (MEE), se consideran y se discuten distintas opciones para estimar cuál sería el modelo con mejor comparabilidad respecto del bienestar subjetivo entre países al integrar la satisfacción escolar. Del análisis de los resultados, se aprecia que dos de los MEE multigrupo, que incluyen los seis ítems relativos a satisfacciones con aspectos de la vida escolar relacionados con una variable latente, que a su vez se relaciona con las variables latentes PWI7 y PWI10, muestran buena comparabilidad entre países. Los análisis de regresión múltiple indican que el indicador sintético de satisfacción con aspectos de la vida escolar que resulta más útil es “satisfacción con tu vida de estudiante”. Cuando se incluye este ítem, las consistencias internas tanto del PWI7 como del PWI10 mejoran y los respectivos MEE multigrupo de estas dos escalas psicométricas muestran que varianzas, covarianzas y regresiones resultan comparables entre los tres países, mientras que no son comparables las medias de sus índices generales, probablemente debido a diferentes estilos de respuesta de los adolescentes de cada país.AbstractThis paper studies the inter-linguistic and intercultural comparability of subjective well-being during adolescence, as well as school satisfaction as a component of this well-being, using samples of 12 to 16-year-old from Brazil (n=1588), Chile (n=843) and Spain (n=2900). As subjective well-being indicators, two versions of the PWI (Cummins, Eckersley, van Pallant, Vugt, and Misajon, 2003) were adopted, one measuring well-being with different life domains, a single-item scale on overall life satisfaction (OLS). The six items on satisfaction with different facets of the school life, used by Casas et al. (2013), were included as subjective indicators of school satisfaction. The original version of the PWI (PWI7) and a longer version with 10 items (PWI10) are used. Both versions show a good fit in Confirmatory Factor Analysis using the pooled sample. Using multiple regressions analysis and Structural Equations Modelling (SEM), different options are considered and analyzed in order to estimate the most appropriate model to compare subjective well-being cross-countries, with school satisfaction included. An analysis of the results indicates that two multi-group SEM, which include the six items on satisfaction with different facets of school life related to a latent variable, and also related to latent variables PWI7 and PWI10, respectively, show good comparability between countries. Multiple regression analysis suggests that the most useful synthetic indicator on satisfaction with school life is satisfaction with your life as student. When this item is included in PWI7 or PWI10, internal consistency of each of the scales (PWI8 and PWI11) improves, and the respective multi-group SEM of these two psychometric scales show that variances, covariances and regressions are comparable between the three studied countries. This was not the case with the overall mean indices, which is probably due to the different answering styles of adolescents in each country.

In this paper, a model is set forth relating (a) overall life satisfaction of children to children’s values and (b) children’s values to parents’ values. Using confirmatory factor analysis models three dimensions of values (materialistic values, capacities and knowledge values and interpersonal relationship values) consistently emerged in 5 countries (Brazil, South Africa, Norway, Spain and India) for both parents and children. There was a considerable amount of missing data, mainly because the parent’s questionnaire was often not returned. Full information maximum likelihood estimators with missing data were thus used. Multiple-group analyses were next performed to assess factor invariance of the three value dimensions across the five countries for both parents and children. This implies testing the equality of factor loadings and intercepts across groups. This equality is required to ensure that factors have the same interpretation in all groups, which is necessary when comparing any aspect of the factor distribution across groups. The only two countries for which the interpretation of value dimensions was invariant for both parents and children were Brazil and Spain. The results of other countries could thus not be compared. Multiple-group structural equation models revealed that both parents and children scored higher on most values in Brazil than in Spain. In both countries, each child value dimension was only significantly predicted by the same value dimension of the parents. R-squares were in the 4–12% range and slightly higher in Brazil. The only value dimension that had some effect on overall life satisfaction was capacities and knowledge, which was so in both countries.

The relation between life domains satisfactionand overall life satisfaction, values,internal/external perceived control and theoption of planning or by chance searchinginformation on the Internet has been exploredin a sample of Spanish adolescents aged 12 to16 (N=968). Age and sex differences have beenexamined. Results clearly confirm a positiverelation between satisfaction with life domainsand overall satisfaction with life.Satisfaction with life as a whole shows also tobe positively correlated with non-materialisticvalues. Perceived control shows to be, onceagain, a key construct to understand bothlife-satisfaction of adolescents and theirbehavioural intentions to plan or not to plantheir action to fulfil intended goals. A clearpattern between external and internal perceivedcontrol stems from our analysis: subjectsreporting to rely on chance when searchinginformation show higher external perceivedcontrol while respondents who prefer to planshow higher internal perceived control. Themore satisfaction expressed with learningrelated items (satisfaction with schoolperformance, learning, and preparation forfuture), with family and with life as a whole,the more tendencies are observed among therespondents to plan their search. No directrelation has been observed between values andbehavioural intentions to plan or not to planaction to fulfil intended goals. Perceivedcontrol, but also satisfaction with some lifedomains and with life as a whole seem to act asmediating factors between behaviouralintentions and values.

En este estudio se analiza la comparabilidad interlingüística e intercultural del bienestar subjetivo y la satisfacción escolar como componente de dicho bienestar durante la adolescencia, a partir de tres muestras, una de Brasil (n = 1588), una de Chile (n = 843) y una de España (n = 2900), de 12-16 años de edad. Se adoptan como indicadores de bienestar subjetivo dos versiones del personal wellbeing index (PWI) de Cummins, Eckersley, van Pallant, Vugt y Misajon (2003), que lo evalúan por ámbitos, y una escala de ítem único sobre satisfacción general con la vida (overall life satisfaction [OLS]), y como indicadores subjetivos de satisfacción escolar, los seis ítems de satisfacción con distintos aspectos de la vida escolar utilizados por Casas, Baltatescu, Bertrán, González y Hatos (2013). Del PWI se utiliza la versión original (PWI7) y una versión ampliada con diez ítems (PWI10). Ambas versiones del PWI muestran un buen ajuste en los análisis factoriales confirmatorios realizados con las tres muestras agregadas. Mediante análisis de regresión múltiple y modelos de ecuaciones estructurales (MEE), se consideran y se discuten distintas opciones para estimar cuál sería el modelo con mejor comparabilidad respecto del bienestar subjetivo entre países al integrar la satisfacción escolar. Del análisis de los resultados, se aprecia que dos de los MEE multigrupo, que incluyen los seis ítems relativos a satisfacciones con aspectos de la vida escolar relacionados con una variable latente, que a su vez se relaciona con las variables latentes PWI7 y PWI10, muestran buena comparabilidad entre países. Los análisis de regresión múltiple indican que el indicador sintético de satisfacción con aspectos de la vida escolar que resulta más útil es "satisfacción con tu vida de estudiante". Cuando se incluye este ítem, las consistencias internas tanto del PWI7 como del PWI10 mejoran y los respectivos MEE multigrupo de estas dos escalas psicométricas muestran que varianzas, covarianzas y regresiones resultan comparables entre los tres países, mientras que no son comparables las medias de sus índices generales, probablemente debido a diferentes estilos de respuesta de los adolescentes de cada país. This paper studies the inter-linguistic and intercultural comparability of subjective wellbeing during adolescence, as well as school satisfaction as a component of this well-being, using samples of 12 to 16-year-old from Brazil (n=1588), Chile (n=843) and Spain (n=2900). As subjective well-being indicators, two versions of the PWI (Cummins, Eckersley, van Pallant, Vugt, and Misajon, 2003) were adopted, one measuring well-being with different life domains, a single-item scale on overall life satisfaction (OLS). The six items on satisfaction with different facets of the school life, used by Casas et al. (2013), were included as subjective indicators of school satisfaction. The original version of the PWI (PWI7) and a longer version with 10 items (PWI10) are used. Both versions show a good fit in Confirmatory Factor Analysis using the pooled sample. Using multiple regressions analysis and Structural Equations Modelling (SEM), different options are considered and analyzed in order to estimate the most appropriate model to compare subjective wellbeing cross-countries, with school satisfaction included. An analysis of the results indicates that two multi-group SEM, which include the six items on satisfaction with different facets of school life related to a latent variable, and also related to latent variables PWI7 and PWI10, respectively, show good comparability between countries. Multiple regression analysis suggests that the most useful synthetic indicator on satisfaction with school life is satisfaction with your life as student. When this item is included in PWI7 or PWI10, internal consistency of each of the scales (PWI8 and PWI11) improves, and the respective multi-group SEM of these two psychometric scales show that variances, covariances and regressions are comparable between the three studied countries. This was not the case with the overall mean indices, which is probably due to the different answering styles of adolescents in each country.

Several theoretical models and testing procedures are presented with the aim of identifying the most relevant items and domains to include in a model for evaluating adolescents' subjective well-being, above and beyond those usually included in adults' scales. Data were collected in three countries based on a list of 30 items regarding adolescents' satisfaction with different domains or facets of life. Responses to these 30 items (including Personal Well-Being Index and Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale items) have been analysed by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis using different Structural Equation Models (SEM) on a pooled sample comprising 5,316 twelve to sixteen-year-olds from Spain, Brazil and Chile. Several models have shown good enough fit statistics. A model using 14 items shows excellent fit statistics and is conceptually coherent. However, the inclusion or non-inclusion of items related to satisfaction with religion or spirituality results in both advantages and disadvantages when comparing the alternative models analysed. The relevance of including these items may therefore depend on the socio-cultural context where data are collected and their inclusion makes cross-country comparison more statistically challenging. The 14-item model has also been tested using multigroup SEM in order to check comparability of data among the three countries. All things considered, multigroup models have shown good fit with constrained loadings, but not with constrained loadings and intercepts, suggesting we can compare correlations and regressions among countries, but not means. Additional multigroup SEM with the five age groups available from the pooled sample have demonstrated that responses-and means-are comparable across different age groups during early adolescence Spanish data were collected with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science grant SEJ2007-62813/PS

This study focuses on Spanish students of post-compulsory secondary education (15- to 24-year-olds) and has the following objectives: (1) to analyse the relationships between satisfaction with present safety and future security and the items conforming the Catalan adaptation of Cummins et al.’s (Soc Indicators Res 64:159–190, 2003) PWI-7 (satisfaction with health, standard of living, life achievements, groups of people you belong to and relationships with other people) and the Overall Life Satisfaction (OLS) scale (for overall life satisfaction); (2) to explore the relationships between present safety and future security and other psychosocial constructs and (3) to identify potential gender differences and similarities between the above variables and relationships.

Within the frame of a cross-cultural project directed to explore how New Information and Communication Technologies (Nicts) affect the life of adolescents, a study of the relationship between life satisfaction domains and salient values for the future, as well as their relation with overall life satisfaction is presented. In order to explore to what extent the different country results could be considered really crossculturally comparable, two basic topics, sensitive in any research of this kind, such as life domain satisfactions and salient values for the future, have been analyzed in-depth. A Principal Components Analysis (Pca) of each country data and of the total data set have been developed.