Predictors of Well-Being: An Examination of Age Differences
Predictors of Well-Being: An Examination of Age Differences

Summary/Abstract: Well-being has an adaptive function and is associated with a number of positive outcomes in terms of psychological, physical and social function. Purpose of this study is to identify the predictors of well-being into three large categories of variables which are: personality, family and the emotional regulation mechanisms and to analyze the age difference of the predictors of wellbeing. Statistical analyses (hierarchical multiple regression) processed the responses of 516 subjects, aged between 14 and 34 (M = 18.62, SD = 3.32). From the personality factors, emotional stability is the strongest predictor of well-being. Emotional experience during childhood stage is significant for adolescent, whereas in young adults, it bears significance for the positive dimensions of wellbeing only. With regards to the adult attachment style, the relationship with both parents is relevant (for teenagers), and the attachment relationship with the father is the main predictor (for young adults). In the emotion regulation strategies, expressive suppression is, for adolescents, the main predictor of wellbeing, whereas for young adults, it is the cognitive reappraisal. Well-being depends on the structure of personality, the emotional experiences in the family of origin and also on the strategies enabled in regulating emotions. Personality factors are the strongest predictors of well-being. Of these, emotional stability contributes the most to the variance of the predictive model and presents significant links to all four dimensions that operationalize well-being.

• Details
• Contents