Placing Adolescents on a Trajectory to Happiness: The Role of Family Assets and Intentional Self-Regulation

Mingyu Guo (), Lingxiao Wang (), Liang Zhang (), Qingqing Hou (), Jian Yang () and Shumin Chang ()
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Mingyu Guo: Shandong Normal University
Lingxiao Wang: Shandong Normal University
Liang Zhang: Shandong Normal University
Qingqing Hou: Shandong Normal University
Jian Yang: Shandong Normal University
Shumin Chang: Shandong Normal University

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2023, vol. 24, issue 3, No 3, 945-966

Abstract: Abstract Based on the positive youth development perspective, we develop a series of models including family assets, intentional self-regulation, and happiness to analyze the paths between the intercepts and slopes of the constructs. A sample of 1214 school children (Mage = 12.89, SD = 0.51) was followed from their 1st–3rd year of junior high school. The results showed that Chinese adolescents have good, stable family assets, which positively predict the increased trajectory of their intentional self-regulation (ISR) and happiness. Additionally, the initial level and change rates of ISR played a mediating role rather than a moderating role in the relationship between family assets and adolescents’ happiness, but such indirect effects were not observed when family assets and school assets were considered simultaneously. These findings suggest that a sufficient level of resources in the family context can effectively promote adolescents’ happiness. Crucially, as a developmental strength, ISR can help to place adolescents on the trajectory to happiness.

Keywords: Family assets; Intentional self-regulation; Happiness; Early adolescence; Latent growth modeling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s10902-023-00626-6

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