RESUMEN
Positive Youth Development (PYD) emerged as a holistic and strength-based perspective that focuses on the fact that young people may have the internal and external resources for healthy and successful development through five dimensions (5Cs) that empower them: Perceived Competence, Confidence, Character, Connection, and Caring. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the overall PYD factor, the 5Cs, and risk behaviors, in addition to analyzing gender differences. This study showed the results of a cross-sectional study of 1044 emerging adults from 11 Spanish universities in 2021. Data collection was performed by applying an online self-report measure. The results showed that the Character was protective against substance abuse, mainly in women, while the connection was related to the participation of betting money and online betting in men. Caring was protective against money bets in the men's sample. However, controversial results were found regarding Perceived competence, which had a positive association with substance abuse, money bets, and drunk driving. It seems that high levels of Perceived competence, rather than objective competence, were associated with engagement in various risk behaviors. Concerning gender differences, men showed more risky behaviors than women. A partial mediation model pointed out that lower character and higher perceived competence in men partly explained the higher presence of risky behavior compared to women. These results underline the need to promote PYD within the university context to prevent risky behaviors by addressing gender differences and the separate role of the 5Cs.
RESUMEN
(1) Background: The aim of the present study is to analyze subjective happiness in relation to leisure time in 10-year-old boys and girls from Brazil, Chile and Spain and to determine which leisure time activity has a greater effect on their subjective happiness and whether there are differences according to gender. (2) Methods: Data from the third wave of the Children's Worlds Project was used, which was collected by administering self-report measures to representative samples in each country. The sample was composed of 4008 early adolescents from Brazil (22.1%, n = 886), Chile (22.8%, n = 913) and Spain (55.1%, n = 2209). The mean age of the sample was 10.17 years (SD = 0.57), and 51.7% were girls. (3) Results: In terms of subjective happiness, moderate to high means were observed, with higher scores in boys and the Spanish sample. The results showed some differences in leisure time activities among children from Brazil, Chile and Spain. Furthermore, the results highlighted the importance of relaxation time with the family to promote happiness in pre-adolescence across genders and countries. Additionally, playing outdoors and doing homework were also found to be protective factors for subjective happiness. (4) Conclusions: In Brazil, Chile and Spain the most consistent result was the positive effect of spending time relaxing with the family on subjective happiness.
RESUMEN
Leisure time activities in childhood may have a crucial role in the development of subjective well-being. Nevertheless, more research is needed with cross-national samples concerning the differential effects of lifestyles on life satisfaction. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to analyze the associations between the frequency of playing sports/exercise or playing electronic games on life satisfaction in a sample of 12-year-old children from nine countries from the European Union. The data used in this publication come from the third wave of the Children's Worlds project, an international survey of children's lives and well-being whose administration started in 2017. The sample was composed of 10,626 children (50.9% boys) from Estonia, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Romania, and Spain. They completed the Student Life Satisfaction Scale and answered two questions to assess the frequency of playing sport or exercise, and the frequency of playing electronic games. The results indicated notable scores in life satisfaction in all participating countries. The results showed some differences between boys and girls, and among the countries, in the frequency of sport practice and electronic games in the leisure time, as well as in the overall level of life satisfaction. The results also underlined that sport practice had a greater positive effect on life satisfaction than the use of electronic games. Thus, this study highlights the need to design programs to promote sport practice in leisure time for 12-year-old children in Europe, in order to protect their subjective well-being.
RESUMEN
Literature to date has well supported the detrimental consequences of bullying and school exclusion in different countries, with negative outcomes in school adjustment or child psychological adjustment, among others. However, more research is needed to understand the effects on positive indicators of psychological well-being in children as subjective happiness. Cross-national studies are also recommended to examine the differential effects by country. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine bullying and school exclusion, and their effects on child subjective happiness, from a cross-national perspective. Data from the Second Wave of Children's Worlds: International Survey of Children's Well-being (ISCWeB) was used, from a sample of 12,623 children aged 10 years old from 15 countries. Participants completed self-report measures of bullying, school exclusion and subjective happiness. Results showed that 20.8% of children suffered harassment and 17.6% felt excluded, twice or more times, at school. Negative effects of bullying and exclusion on subjective happiness were observed in all the sample. Furthermore, differences by country were found in the frequency of bullying and exclusion, as well as in the size of their effects on happiness. These results underline the need to protect child psychological well-being by preventing bullying and school exclusion.
RESUMEN
School satisfaction is conceptualized as a crucial factor influencing children´s happiness and consequent healthy functioning in multiple developmental areas. Research to date has mainly evaluated how contextual factors related to the interactions between the student, teachers and classmates influence children's happiness, not considering other important factors more related to their own student experiences. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of school satisfaction on happiness in 10-year-old children from Europe. Children's global school satisfaction levels, as well as different separate indicators of school satisfaction (i.e., satisfaction with other children in class; school marks; school life experience as a student; things they have learned; and relationships with teachers) were considered. The study comprised a sample of 7.445 10-year-old children from seven European countries. First, correlation analysis showed that the overall school satisfaction measure, as well as its different indicators, had positive associations with happiness levels. Second, regression analyses confirmed the effect by indicators of global school satisfaction on happiness. The indicators with the strongest effects were the satisfaction with their life as a student and the satisfaction with other children in the class, while the smallest effects were found regarding the satisfaction with the relationships with teachers and the things learned. These results point out the need to consider personal and contextual indicators of school satisfaction in a program design to foster happiness in 10-year-old children.
