Parental Support, Child Factors and School Adjustment in Predicting Adolescents’ Well-Being and Ill-Being: A Structural Equation Model

We investigated the effects of parental support, individual factors (general self-efficacy and social emotional loneliness), and school adjustment (general aspects about school and teachers, peer relationship, and academic and disciplinary difficulties) on adolescents’ well-being and ill-being. The aim is to study how these different sets of predictors affect well-being and ill-being and the interrelationships between different sets of predictors. A total of 3,541 Secondary 1 adolescents (Mean age = 13.31 years, SD = 0.39) from 18 schools in Singapore participated in this survey. We examined our hypothesized model using EQS. A full latent variable model was used. General self-efficacy and general aspects about school and teachers positively predicted well-being and negatively predicted ill-being. Social emotional loneliness and academic and disciplinary difficulties negatively predicted well-being and positively predicted ill-being. Individual child factors (self-efficacy and social emotional loneliness) had indirect effects on well-being and ill-being through school adjustment. Finally, parental support positively predicted general self-efficacy and negatively predicted social emotional loneliness. Individual child factors, parental support, and general aspects about school and teachers are important predictors of well-being and ill-being. Additionally, our findings highlight the essential role of teachers and the school environment in adolescent school adjustment experiences. Our findings supported the dual factor model of mental health, and emphasized the importance of parental support in alleviating adolescents’ social emotional loneliness.