Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Relationships Between Social Support, Internal Assets, and Life Satisfaction in Korean Adolescents

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Happiness Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In previous literature, social support has been reported to have a significant, positive relationship with life satisfaction. However, few studies have examined this relationship among Korean youths and how their psychological functioning is associated with both social support and life satisfaction. This study investigated the associations between different sources of social support (i.e., family, peer, and teacher), psychological factors (i.e., self-efficacy and emotional regulation), and life satisfaction, in a sample of 1133 Korean adolescents. The possibility of sex differences in these relationships was also investigated. Results indicated that only family support had a direct relationship with life satisfaction for male adolescents; however, all three types of social support were found to have a significant, indirect relationship with life satisfaction for male adolescents through both psychological factors. In contrast, all three types of social support had a direct relationship with life satisfaction of female adolescents. Additionally, self-efficacy had a mediating effect on the relationship between the social support from family and teachers and life satisfaction of female adolescents. The results and implications of the study are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Addis, M. E., & Mahalik, J. R. (2003). Men, masculinity, and the contexts of help seeking. American Psychologist, 58(1), 5–14. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.1.5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • An, S. Y., & Lee, H. S. (2009). The effects of individual psychology and family variable on adolescents’ peer relationships. Journal of Korean Home Economics Education, 21(3), 164–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antaramian, S., Kamble, S. V., & Huebner, E. S. (2016). Life satisfaction and coping in Hindu adolescents in India. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(4), 1703–1717. doi:10.1007/s10902-015-9666-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1997). Self- efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A., Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G. V., & Pastorelli, C. (2001). Self-efficacy beliefs as shapers of children’s aspirations and career trajectories. Child Development, 72, 187–206. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107(2), 238–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentler, P. M. (2007). On tests and indices for evaluating structural models. Personality and Individual Differences, 42(5), 825–829.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentler, P. M., & Bonett, D. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88(3), 588–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bisegger, C., Cloetta, B., von Rueden, U., Abel, T., & Ravens-Sieberer, U. (2005). Health-related quality of life: Gender differences in childhood and adolescence. Sozial- und Praventivmedizin, 50, 281–291. doi:10.1007/s00038-005-4094-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, R. H., & Corwyn, R. F. (2001). Home environment and behavioral development during early adolescence: The mediating and moderating roles of self-efficacy beliefs. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 47(2), 165–187. doi:10.1353/mpq.2001.0007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments in nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Camfield, L., Choudhury, K., & Devine, J. (2009). Well-being, happiness and why relationships matter: Evidence from Bangladesh. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(1), 71–91. doi:10.1007/s10902-007-9062-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, C., Lee, S., & Stevenson, H. W. (1995). Response style and cross-cultural comparisons of rating scales among East Asian and North American students. Psychological Science, 6(3), 170–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, X., & Shi, K. (2008). Mediating effect of social support on loneliness and mental health of college students. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 16(5), 534–536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cho, S. Y., Kim, H. W., & Kim, M. (2011). Adolescent’ life satisfaction in the ecological context. Journal of the Korean Home Economics, 49(3), 87–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cikrikci, Ö., & Odaci, H. (2015). The determinants of life satisfaction among adolescents: The role of metacognitive awareness and self-efficacy. Social Indicators Research. doi:10.1007/s11205-015-0861-5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, P. M., Teti, L. O., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (2003). Mutual emotion regulation and the stability of conduct problems between preschool and early school age. Development and Psychopathology, 15, 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Contreras, J. M., Kerns, K. A., Weimer, B. L., Gentzler, A. L., & Tomich, P. L. (2000). Emotion regulation as a mediator of associations between mother-child attachment and peer relationships in middle childhood. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 111–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curran, P. J., West, S. G., & Finch, F. G. (1996). The robustness of test statistics to nonnormality and specification error in confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 1(1), 16–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danielsen, A. G., Samdal, O., Hetland, J., & Wold, B. (2009). School-related social support and students’ perceived life satisfaction. The Journal of Educational Research, 102(4), 303–318. doi:10.3200/JOER.102.4.303-320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E., La Guardia, J., Moller, A., Scheiner, M., & Ryan, R. (2006). On the benefits of giving as well as receiving autonomy support: Mutuality in close friendships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(3), 313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demaray, M. K., & Malecki, C. K. (2002). Critical levels of perceived social support associated with student adjustment. School Psychology Quarterly, 17, 213–241. doi:10.1521/scpq.17.3.213.20883.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demaray, M. K., & Malecki, C. K. (2003). Importance ratings of socially supportive behaviors by children and adolescents. School Psychology Review, 32(1), 108–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demir, M. (2013). Introduction to relationships and happiness. In I. Boniwell, S. A. David, & A. C. Ayers (Eds.), Oxford handbook of happiness (pp. 817–820). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Diener, C. (1995). Cross-cultural correlates of life satisfaction and self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 653–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., Pidada, S., & Liew, J. (2001). The relations of regulation and negative emotionality to Indonesian children’s social functioning. Child Development, 72, 1747–1763.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franke, K. B., Huebner, E. S., & Hills, K. J. (2016). Cross-sectional and prospective associations between positive emotions and general life satisfaction in adolescents. Journal of Happiness Studies. doi:10.1007/s10902-016-9763-8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldbeck, L., Schmitz, T. G., Besier, T., Herschbach, P., & Henrich, G. (2007). Life satisfaction decreases during adolescence. Quality of Life Research: An International Journal of Quality of Life Aspects of Treatment, Care & Rehabilitation, 16(6), 969–979. doi:10.1007/s11136-007-9205-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorrese, A., & Ruggieri, R. (2012). Peer attachment: A meta-analytic review of gender and age differences and associations with parent attachment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 650–672.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gudjonsson, G. H., Sigurdsson, J. F., Eyjolfsdottir, G. A., Smari, J., & Young, S. (2009). The relationship between satisfaction with life, ADHD symptoms, and associated problems among university students. Journal of Attention Disorders, 12(6), 507–515. doi:10.1177/1087054708323018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooper, D., Coughlan, J., & Mullen, M. (2008). Structural equation modelling: Guidelines for determining model fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 6(1), 53–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoseinzadeh, A., Azizi, M., & Tavakoli, H. (2014). Social support and life satisfaction in adolescents: The mediating role of self- efficacy and self-esteem. Journal of Iranian Psychologists, 11(41), 103–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6, 1–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huebner, E. S. (1991). Correlates of life satisfaction in children. School Psychology Quarterly, 6(2), 103–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, S. R., Goodness, K., & Buhrmester, D. (2002). Gender differences in early adolescents’ relationship qualities, self-efficacy, and depression symptoms. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 22(3), 277–309. doi:10.1177/02731602022003003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2004). Health and unhealthy emotion regulation: Personality process, individual differences, and life span development. Journal of Personality, 72(6), 1301–1333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kil, K. S. (2006). A study on the effect of parent’s rearing attitudes, social support on the children’s emotional intelligence. Journal of Korean Child Care and Education, 2(2), 147–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J. Y., & Chung, H. J. (2008). A study on factors influencing the quality of life for adolescents. Social Welfare Review, 13, 171–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, M., Kim, H., Han, Y., & Lim, J. (2003). Explorations on the happy life on Koreans on the bases of their social structural variables. The Korean Journal of Psychology, 22(2), 1–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Y., Kwak, K., & Lee, S. (2015). Does optimism moderate parental achievement pressure and academic stress in Korean children? Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues. doi:10.1007/s12144-015-9355-5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, U. C., & Park, Y. S. (2006). Analysis of factors influencing quality of life in Korean society. Korean Journal of Psychological and Social Issues, 12(5), 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, G. D., & Park, M. S. (2009). Study on the factors affecting the school adaptations of children from multi-cultural families. Social Science Research, 48(1), 97–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kong, F., Ding, K., & Zhao, J. (2015). The relationships among gratitude, self-esteem, social support and life satisfaction among undergraduate students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(2), 477–489. doi:10.1007/s10902-014-9519-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kong, F., & You, X. (2013). Loneliness and self-esteem as mediators between social support and life satisfaction in late adolescence. Social Indicators Research, 110(1), 271–279. doi:10.1007/s11205-011-9930-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korean Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development. (2013). A report on educational support for children from culturally diverse families.

  • Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare. (2013). A report on the status of Korean children.

  • Kumar, R., & Lal, R. (2006). The role of self-efficacy and gender difference among the adolescents. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 32(3), 345–350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwon, H., Yoon, K. L., Joormann, J., & Kwon, J. (2013). Cultural and gender differences in emotion regulation: Relation to depression. Cognition and Emotion, 27(5), 769–782. doi:10.1080/02699931.2013.792244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, J. W., Jones, P. S., Mineyama, Y., & Zhang, X. E. (2002). Cultural differences in responses to a likert scale. Research in Nursing & Health, 25(4), 295–306. doi:10.1002/nur.10041.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, H. E., & Kwak, Y. J. (2011). A Study on factors affecting life satisfaction and school life satisfaction in the early youth. Korean Journal of Youth Studies, 18(7), 59–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S., You, S., & Furlong, M. J. (2015). Validation of the Social Emotional Health Survey for Korean school students. Child Indicators Research. doi:10.1007/s12187-014-9294-y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, T., & Cheng, S. (2015). Family, friends, and subjective well-being: A comparison between the West and Asia. In M. Demir (Ed.), Friendship and happiness: Across the life-span and cultures (pp. 235–252). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, X., Wang, Q., Lu, F., & Sun, X. (2014). Ethnic identity, social support and life satisfaction in minority preparatory undergraduates. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 28(1), 75–79. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1531962705?accountid=14522.

  • Liu, Q., & Li, F. (2007). Mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation on the relation between college students’ life events and life satisfaction. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 15(4), 397–398.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyons, M. D., Huebner, E. S., & Hills, K. J. (2016). Relations among personality characteristics, environmental events, coping behavior and adolescents’ life satisfaction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(3), 1033–1050. doi:10.1007/s10902-015-9630-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma, Z., Zeng, W., & Ye, K. (2015). Gender differences in Chinese adolescents’ subjective well-being: The mediating role of self-efficacy. Psychological Reports, 116(1), 311–321. doi:10.2466/17.07.PR0.116k15w2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh, H. W., Balla, J. R., & McDonald, R. P. (1988). Goodness-of-fit-indexes in confirmatory factor analysis: The effect of sample size. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 391–410. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell, S. E., & Cole, D. A. (2007). Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation. Psychological Methods, 12, 23–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, C. J., Lambert, R. G., & Moller, N. P. (2006). Preventive resources and emotion regulation expectancies as mediators between attachment and college students’ stress outcomes. International Journal of Stress Management, 13, 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, R. P., & Ho, M.-H. (2002). Principles and practice in reporting structural equation analyses. Psychological Methods, 7, 64–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moksnes, U. K., & Espnes, G. A. (2013). Self-esteem and life satisfaction in adolescents—Gender and age as potential moderators. Quality of Life Research: An International Journal of Quality of Life Aspects of Treatment, Care & Rehabilitation, 22(10), 2921–2928. doi:10.1007/s11136-013-0427-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ndika, N. A., Olagbaiye, F., & Agiobu-Kemmer, I. (2008). Gender differences in irrational beliefs, self-efficacy and self-confidence of some Nigerian adolescents. Psychology and Education: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 45(1), 24–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noh, H., & Shin, H. (2008). The mediating effect of perceived social support in the relation between gratitude and psychological well-being among adolescents. Korean Journal of Youth Studies, 15(2), 147–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, D. G., Cho, H. J., & Choi, D. J. (2004). The effectiveness of regulation strategies for specific negative emotions on job performance and psychological well-being. The Korean Journal of Health Psychology, 9(4), 831–852.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, N., & Huebner, E. S. (2005). A cross-cultural study of the levels and correlates of life satisfaction among adolescents. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36(4), 444–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, Y. S., Kim, U. C., & Min, B. K. (2002). A longitudinal analysis of Korean adolescents: The influence of parental social support on self-efficacy and life-satisfaction. The Korean Journal of Education Psychology, 16(2), 63–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, C. L., Linley, P. A., & Maltby, J. (2009). Youth life satisfaction: A review of the literature. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(5), 583–630. doi:10.1007/s10902-008-9110-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roehrle, B., & Strouse, J. (2008). Influence of social support on success of therapeutic interventions: A meta-analytic review. Psychotherapy Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 45, 464–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryu, J., & Min, K. H. (2005). The effects of emotion coping style and emotion awareness on the subjective well-being later life. The Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology, 19(4), 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saphire-Bernstein, S., & Taylor, S. E. (2013). Close relationships and happiness. In I. Boniwell, S. A. David, & A. C. Ayers (Eds.), Oxford handbook of happiness (pp. 821–833). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saphire-Bernstein, S., Taylor, S. E., Moore, A. N., Lam, S., & Seeman, T. E. (2010). Is relationship quality related to life satisfaction? (under review).

  • Siddall, J., Huebner, E. S., & Jiang, X. (2013). A prospective study of differential sources of school-related social support and adolescent global life satisfaction. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 83(1), 107–114. doi:10.1111/ajop.12006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steenkamp, J. E. M., & Baumgartner, H. (1998). Assessing measurement invariance in cross-national consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 25(1), 78–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steiger, J. H., & Lind, J. C. (1980). Statistically based tests for the number of common factors. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Psychometric Society, Iowa, USA.

  • Vecchio, G. M., Gerbino, M., Pastorelli, C., Del Bove, G., & Caprara, G. V. (2007). Multi-faceted self-efficacy beliefs as predictors of life satisfaction in late adolescence. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 1807–1818. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2007.05.018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vieno, A., Santinello, M., Pastore, M., & Perkins, D. D. (2007). Social support, sense of community in school, and self-efficacy as resources during early adolescence: An integrative model. American Journal of Community Psychology, 39(1–2), 177–190. doi:10.1007/s10464-007-9095-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund granted to Sukkyung You.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Sukkyung You

  2. Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea

    Sun Ah Lim

  3. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Eui Kyung Kim

Authors
  1. Sukkyung You
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sun Ah Lim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eui Kyung Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sukkyung You.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

You, S., Lim, S.A. & Kim, E.K. Relationships Between Social Support, Internal Assets, and Life Satisfaction in Korean Adolescents. J Happiness Stud 19, 897–915 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9844-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9844-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation