Adolescent’s well-being in key contexts

The main goal of this project is to explore changes and daily fluctuations in different indicators of well-being (life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, emotional problems), and to examine links between family characteristics and the quality of peer relationships with indicators of well-being in middle and late adolescence. Based on developmental theories, family and peers are identified as key contexts of adolescent development, and since a large part of interactions between adolescents and their peers takes place through digital media, various activities, and experiences specific to that type of communication will also be examined. It will also be investigated whether environmental sensitivity moderates longitudinal links between adolescents’ well-being and the quality of parental and peer relationships. This project will consist of two parts. In the first part, longitudinal study with two research waves spanning one year will be conducted. In the second part of the project, diary study is planned. A diary study over a shorter period will enable examination of the links between daily fluctuations in the quality of interactions with parents and peers and fluctuations in well-being indicators. Part of the participants from previous longitudinal study conducted as part of the CHILD-WELL project will be recruited into the project research, which will enable the examination of changes in well-being during early, middle and late adolescence (10-18 years). In the first wave of research, it is planned to include around 600 high school students. Participants for the diary study will be randomly selected and invited to participate in the second part of the project. Around 200 high school students are planned to participate in the diary study. The start of the first part of the research is expected in September 2025, the diary study will be conducted in the spring of 2026, and the second wave of research is planned for September 2026. Members of the research team are scientists from the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences: Ph.D. Andreja Brajša-Žganec (project manager), Ph.D. Ljiljana Kaliterna Lipovčan, Ph.D. Tihana Brkljačić, Ph.D. Marina Kotrla Topić, Ph.D. Maja Tadić Vujičić, Ph.D. Marija Đida, Maja Kućar, mag. psycho, Ana-Marija Čango, mag. psych, and Tamara Bolić. The project is also participated by Ph.D. Ivana Hanzec Marković (University of Slavonski Brod, Department of Social and Humanities), Prof. Ph.D. Veljko Jovanović (Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad), Ph.D. Haridhan Goswami (Manchester Center for Youth Studies, Department of Sociology, Manchester Metropolitan University) and ph.D. Gordana Keresteš (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb).