Socioeconomic Inequality and Life Satisfaction in Late Childhood and Adolescence: A Moderated Mediation Model

Rong Zou (), Gengfeng Niu (), Wu Chen (), Cuiying Fan (), Yuan Tian (), Xiaojun Sun and Zongkui Zhou ()
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Rong Zou: Ministry of Education
Gengfeng Niu: Ministry of Education
Wu Chen: Ministry of Education
Cuiying Fan: Ministry of Education
Yuan Tian: Ministry of Education
Xiaojun Sun: Ministry of Education
Zongkui Zhou: Ministry of Education

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2018, vol. 136, issue 1, No 14, 305-318

Abstract: Abstract An increasing number of studies have established an association between socioeconomic inequality and life satisfaction, but the underlying mediating and moderating mechanisms of this association have not been fully identified. The present study investigated the effect of family socioeconomic status (SES) on life satisfaction in late childhood and adolescence; examined the mediating effect of optimism in the association between family SES and life satisfaction; and tested whether this mediating process varied across late childhood and adolescence. A sample of 552 Chinese children in late childhood (M age = 10.73 years, SD = 0.96) and 637 Chinese adolescents (M age = 14.71 years, SD = 1.60) was recruited to complete questionnaires regarding family SES, optimism, and life satisfaction. Results indicated that socioeconomic inequality was associated with life satisfaction in Chinese children and adolescents. Moreover, optimism partially mediated the relation between family SES and life satisfaction, and developmental period moderated this mediation effect. Specifically, the mediation effect was found in adolescence, but not in late childhood, indicating an adolescent-emergent model (Chen et al. in Psychol Bull 128(2):295–329, 2002; in Soc Sci Med 62(9):2161–2170, 2006). The meaning and implications of socioeconomic inequality in different development periods and applied considerations to improve life satisfaction in late childhood and adolescence are discussed.

Keywords: Life satisfaction; Socioeconomic inequality; Optimism; Moderated mediation model; Chinese children and adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-016-1542-8

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