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Cross-Sectional and Prospective Associations Between Positive Emotions and General Life Satisfaction in Adolescents

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Abstract

Informed by the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions (PE), we tested a model of the origins of life satisfaction (LS) with a sample of 567 middle school students from the Southeastern United States. The pathways thinking domain of hope was proposed to mediate the relation between PE and general LS at a single time point, as well as over 1 year. At Time 1, pathways thinking was a significant mediator of PE and LS. In the prospective model, PE did not predict later LS after controlling for baseline LS. The findings have implications for theory and efforts to promote and sustain LS over time in adolescents.

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Abbreviations

CHS:

Children’s Hope Scale

LS:

Life satisfaction

MSLSS:

Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale

PANAS-C:

Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children

PE:

Positive emotions

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Carolina, 1512 Pendleton Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Kathleen B. Franke, E. Scott Huebner & Kimberly J. Hills

Authors
  1. Kathleen B. Franke
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  2. E. Scott Huebner
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  3. Kimberly J. Hills
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Correspondence to Kathleen B. Franke.

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Franke, K.B., Huebner, E.S. & Hills, K.J. Cross-Sectional and Prospective Associations Between Positive Emotions and General Life Satisfaction in Adolescents. J Happiness Stud 18, 1075–1093 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9763-8

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