Mapping adolescent wellbeing: developmental network shifts from early to middle adolescence in 24 countries

Working paper

This study applied psychometric network analysis to examine the structure of adolescent wellbeing across 49 indicators of subjective and psychological wellbeing in a large international sample (N = 6,445; ages 11-18) from 38 schools across 24 countries. We estimated networks separately for early (11-14) and middle (15-18) adolescents to assess developmental change. The overall network was moderately dense and highly stable. Overall life satisfaction, satisfaction with student life, and optimism about the future emerged as central nodes. While the global network structure was similar across age groups, older adolescents showed increased centrality for negative affect (“bad”), relaxed mood, and future optimism, and decreased centrality for current life evaluation. These findings underscore the integrated and developmentally shifting nature of adolescent wellbeing, and offer practical insights for monitoring, intervention, and policy. Results highlight the value of developmentally sensitive strategies that support both present experience and future-oriented resilience across diverse youth populations.

Authors: Zhou, W; Marquez, J; Boyle, L; Taylor, L

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Publisher: Wellbeing Research Centre
• Series: Wellbeing Research Centre Working Paper
• Place of publication: Oxford
• Publication date: 2025-09-03
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-9ox7jykpo
• Paper number: 2504
• Language: English
• Keywords: cross-culture; future-orientation; adolescent wellbeing; psychometric network analysis; developmental change