engleski

The effects of worrying about future education, employment, loneliness, and social surrounding and status on well-being in youth

Higher mental well-being can have a number of positive health effects, and therefore it is important to investigate which factors can affect mental well-being. The aim of the current study is to explore the relationship between mental well-being and the extent of future worries among youth, as well as relationships with parent’s education as an indicator for socioeconomic status, academic performance, and gender. Since previous research has shown that gender, academic performance, and socioeconomic status lead to differences in mental well-being, these variables were included. The data were collected within the “Cross-National Project on PYD” on a sample of 728 high-schools and university students in Croatia, who completed a questionnaire containing questions regarding demographic variables, mental well-being, and future worry. University students and high-school students were separated in two groups for further analysis. The results show a significant positive correlation between academic performance and mental well-being among university students, but the correlation was not significant among high-school students. Girls had lower mental well-being than boys among high-school students, but gender was not a significant predictor among university students. In both groups, a high score on future worry was negatively correlated with mental well-being. Regression analyses preformed on the two groups showed that worrying about academic performance and being lonely were negatively predictors of mental well-being among youth. An awareness of mental well-being among both groups of students is important in order to help promote positive youth development. Further interventions should especially focus on students of lower socioeconomic status and girls.

well-being, youth, future worries

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