Adolescent Health: A Framework for Developing an Innovative Personalized Well-Being Index

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Health
• Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Adolescence is a critical period marked by emerging health risks with long-term consequences.
• Understanding adolescent well-being requires an integrated approach beyond perceived good health.
• Existing assessments may not fully capture the multifaceted nature of adolescent well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an integrated Well-Being Index (WBI) for adolescents.
• To identify key predictors of adolescent well-being, including lifestyle, social context, emotional status, and mental skills.
• To provide a personalized perspective on adolescent well-being (PWBI).

Main Methods:

• Recruited 1,248 healthy adolescents (mean age 13) from Italian junior high schools.
• Utilized KIDSCREEN-52 for well-being assessment and the Stroop Test for cognitive processing.
• Assessed school performance and social context, including parent relations.

Main Results:

• Social context was the strongest predictor of perceived well-being (β = 0.972, p < 0.0001), with parent relations being highly significant.
• Lifestyle habits (β = 0.954, p < 0.000) and emotional status (β = 0.949, p < 0.000) were also significant predictors.
• Mental skills demonstrated the least predictive power for the WBI (β = -0.1417, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions:

• The developed Well-Being Index (WBI) effectively integrates multiple dimensions of adolescent health.
• Social context, lifestyle, and emotional factors are crucial determinants of adolescent well-being.
• PWBI offers a personalized view, emphasizing the need for collaborative efforts between schools, families, and communities to promote adolescent health.