The Dynamics of the Interrelationships between Conscious Self-regulation, Psychological Well-being and School-related Subjective Well-being in Adolescents: A Three-year Cross-lagged Panel Study

BACKGROUND: Recently, research on psychological well-being and its dynamics and predictors in adolescence, has gained special attention, due to the importance of well-being for mental and physical health, as well as for success in different activities. Self-regulation (SR) is considered a significant resource for maintaining psychological and school-related subjective well-being. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to identify the role of conscious SR in maintaining pupils’ satisfaction with school life, and to assess the contribution of conscious SR to the development of psychological well-being in adolescence. DESIGN: Two three-year longitudinal studies were carried out on samples of young adolescents in Russian schools (N = 148; N = 132; 10–13 years). The studies utilized methods for assessing conscious SR, psychological well-being (PWB), and school-related subjective well-being (SWB), the latter being the cognitive component of life satisfaction. RESULTS: Our research revealed differences in the dynamics of PWB and SWB levels in adolescents during their transition from primary to basic secondary school. It also identified the specifics of longitudinal relationships between conscious SR, PWB, and SWB in adolescence. We showed that there was a reciprocal relationship between them. However, the most significant cross-longitudinal effects were established between SR and school-related SWB. These effects changed over time: at the beginning, well-being acted as a significant factor of self-regulation, while later self-regulation acted as a significant resource for maintaining adolescent well-being in the subsequent years. CONCLUSION: School-related SWB is characterized by the most pronounced trajectory of change, while PWB is characterized by greater stability and insignificant growth. Our three-year longitudinal study demonstrated that the link between self-regulation and well-being is consistently reproduced. Conscious self-regulation is a significant resource for both the psychological and school subjective well-being of adolescents.