Examining Predictors of Satisfaction Across Different Domains of Life Among Norwegian Adolescents Using Repeated National Cross-Sectional Population-Based Surveys

Abstract Identifying factors that influence life satisfaction is important, as life satisfaction is a key indicator of positive mental health and well-being. This study aims to examine how psychosocial factors, gender, and geographical differences may influence satisfaction with different domains of life, and assess changes in domain-specific life satisfaction among Norwegian adolescents from 2014 to 2022. The current study used data from the national, cross-sectional, and population-based Ungdata surveys from 2014 to 2022 ( N = 420,683 adolescents, 49% boys and 51% girls). Data was divided into three timepoints (T1 = 2014 to 2016, n = 111,915; T2 = 2017 to 2019, n = 157,885; T3 = 2020 to 2022, n = 150,883). Three multiple linear regression analyses were run to examine the associations between adolescents’ satisfaction within three domains (1) Parents & friends, (2) School & community, and (3) Health & appearance and different psychosocial factors (e.g., bullying, mental health, socioeconomic status), as well as geographical information (i.e., South-Eastern, Western, Central, and Northern Norway) across three time points (i.e., T1, T2, and T3). Effect sizes indicated negligible geographical differences in life satisfaction domain scores, which were also relatively stable over time. However, mental health and/or bullying were important predictors in the three models, indicating that worse mental health and bullying exposure were associated with worse domain-specific life satisfaction (small effect sizes). In addition, boys were more satisfied with their health and appearance than girls (medium effect size). The findings underline the importance of preventing mental health challenges and bullying and can inform targeted interventions to promote positive development among adolescents.