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How Does the Economic Crisis Influence Adolescents’ Happiness? Population-Based Surveys in Iceland in 2000–2010

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Abstract

Macroeconomic downturns have been associated with a decrease in happiness among adults. The aim of this study was to explore the secular trend in happiness among Icelandic adolescents during a period of drastic change in the national economy as well as to identify which groups were most vulnerable and most resilient during the economic crisis. The data used in this study comes from series of population-based surveys of Icelandic adolescents in 2000, 2006, 2009, and 2010. Altogether, a total of 28.484 adolescents participated in the four surveys, representing 84 % of all 14–15 year old adolescents in Iceland. Results indicated that happiness increased by 5 % in the adolescent population from 2000 to 2010 despite the economic crisis. Nevertheless, adolescents who seldom spent time with their parents or perceived difficulties in getting emotional support from parents demonstrated a decrease in happiness. Those who found it easy to get emotional support from parents were happiest at every time point (91–93 %) while those who found it difficult were unhappiest (36–50 %). The association between socio- demographic factors and happiness was explored using multiple linear regression analyses where the year of survey, gender, age, family structure, parent’s education, time spent with parents and emotional support from parents altogether explained 13 % of the happiness variance. Emotional support from parents together with time spent with parents had the largest influence on adolescent’s happiness. An overall increase in time spent with parents was detected which might explain the increase in adolescents´ happiness over time. These results indicate that good relations with parents may protect adolescents from possible negative effect of a national economic crisis.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the grant from “The Icelandic Research Fund for Graduate Students”. We would like to thank Sigrún Helga Lund for statistical advice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Public Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Dora G. Gudmundsdóttir, Unnur A. Valdimarsdóttir & Arna Hauksdóttir

  2. The Directorate of Health in Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Dora G. Gudmundsdóttir

  3. Well-being Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Dora G. Gudmundsdóttir & Felicia A. Huppert

  4. Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Sydney, Australia

    Felicia A. Huppert

  5. Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Bryndís Björk Ásgeirsdóttir & Inga D. Sigfúsdóttir

  6. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Unnur A. Valdimarsdóttir

  7. Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Inga D. Sigfúsdóttir

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  1. Dora G. Gudmundsdóttir
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  2. Bryndís Björk Ásgeirsdóttir
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Correspondence to Dora G. Gudmundsdóttir.

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Gudmundsdóttir, D.G., Ásgeirsdóttir, B.B., Huppert, F.A. et al. How Does the Economic Crisis Influence Adolescents’ Happiness? Population-Based Surveys in Iceland in 2000–2010. J Happiness Stud 17, 1219–1234 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-015-9639-3

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