Life Satisfaction Development in the Transition to Adulthood: Differences by Gender and Immigrant Background

Abstract

Life satisfaction is crucial for healthy development into adulthood. However, it is yet largely unknown how life satisfaction develops in the transition to adulthood. This study examined life satisfaction development in this transition and paid special attention to differences between boys, girls, children of immigrants, and nonimmigrants. Unique longitudinal data of seven waves (2010–2018) of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey Germany were used. Respondents (N = 3757, 54% girls, 78% nonimmigrants, Mage weighted = 14.6, SD = 0.6 at wave 1) were followed between ages 14 and 23 and multi-level random effect models were applied. Life satisfaction developed in a nonlinear way in the transition to adulthood (M-shape), with overall decreases between age 17 and 18 and between age 20 and 23. Girls reported lower life satisfaction levels in adolescence and more unstable trajectories than boys, where girls with immigrant backgrounds represented the least advantageous life satisfaction trajectory. Differences in life satisfaction between groups decreased from age 19 onwards.

The Importance of Healthy Habits to Compensate for Differences between Adolescent Males and Females in Anthropometric, Psychological and Physical Fitness Variables

“…Regarding the differences in psychological variables in the normal weight and overweight/obese groups, the OWF showed significantly lower scores in life satisfaction, while the NWF showed a lower score in competence compared to OWM and NWM, respectively. These results are similar to those found in previous studies, in which females showed worse life satisfaction and competence than males [ 11 , 27 ]. A possible explanation could be that adolescence is a crucial stage in which adolescents are prone to teasing and taunting by their peers, with this situation more evident in females, who are more likely to suffer verbal-relational victimization, which hinders their participation in certain social activities and complicates their integration with the rest of their peers [ 89 , 92 ], thereby affecting their psychological state.…”

“…Another relevant result is that between males and females with the same level of physical activity practice, no differences were found in life satisfaction or the satisfaction of basic psychological needs between AM and AF, but the differences were significant between SM and SF, with SF scoring lower. These results partially follow the line of previous research, which indicated that males showed higher scores than females in psychological variables [ 11 , 27 , 77 ], as they agree in the case of sedentary adolescents analyzed in this research, but in the case of active adolescents, no differences were found. These results highlight the importance of physical activity for female adolescents to achieve an adequate psychological state.…”

“…As for the anthropometric variables, it was the females who obtained higher scores in the variables related to fat mass, highlighting the percentage of total fat or the sum of three skinfolds, while the males showed greater muscle mass and corrected girth, with these results being similar to those obtained previously in adolescents [ 10 ]. According to the psychological variables, males showed higher scores in life satisfaction, competence, and autonomy, consistent with previous research [ 11 , 27 ]. The differences found could be due to the existing sexual dimorphism between adolescent males and females, which leads to hormonal changes characterized by an increase in estrogen in girls, which favors fat accumulation and poorer sports performance, and in testosterone in males, with increases the muscle mass that facilitates performance in strength and power tests [ 2 , 6 ].…”

“…However, the existing differences in certain psychological variables according to the gender of the adolescents are still unclear, as previous research in this area has not shown significant differences in life satisfaction between adolescent males and females [ 40 ]. In contrast, other studies have shown lower scores in this variable and competence in adolescent females [ 11 , 27 ].…”

“…Moreover, the changes between males and females at this stage do not only differ in the time at which they occur, as hormonal differences during puberty are notable depending on the sex [ 2 , 5 ], giving rise to a phenomenon known as sexual dimorphism [ 6 ]. These differences in the maturation process between males and females during adolescence lead to changes in their behaviors related to physical activity [ 7 ], nutritional habits [ 8 ], and weight status [ 9 ], as well as in personal variables such as the anthropometry and derived variables [ 10 ], psychological state [ 11 ], or physical fitness [ 12 ].…”