Viewing archives for Dr. Jose Marquez

Mapping Adolescent Wellbeing: Developmental Network Differences between Early To Middle Adolescence in 24 Countries

Wanying Zhou, Jose Marquez, Leoni Boyle and Laura Taylor

Abstract

Adolescent wellbeing is often assessed using composite scores, yet less is known about how specific components of wellbeing are structurally organized and how this organization shifts across development. Using psychometric network analysis, we examined interconnections among 49 wellbeing indicators spanning subjective wellbeing (life satisfaction, affect, and domain satisfaction) and psychological wellbeing (flourishing and positive mental functioning) in a large international sample of adolescents. Data were drawn from 6,445 students aged 11–18 years (M = 14.4, SD = 1.96; 51.7% girls; 3.1% preferred not to report gender) recruited from 38 schools across 24 countries. Networks were estimated for the full sample and separately for early adolescence (11–14 years; 51.9%) and middle adolescence (15–18 years; 48.1%). Across all analyses, overall life satisfaction and satisfaction with student life consistently emerged as the most central nodes, underscoring their integrative role in adolescents’ wellbeing evaluations. Network density was similar across age groups, indicating comparable overall interconnectedness; however, network configuration differed developmentally. In middle adolescence, future-oriented optimism became more structurally prominent, whereas present-focused life evaluation (current life satisfaction) showed reduced centrality. Indicators reflecting negative affect and calmness also showed modest age-related increases in relative importance. Together, these findings suggest a developmental reorganization of adolescent wellbeing from present-oriented evaluations toward future-oriented expectations and regulatory resources, while reaffirming the central role of overall life satisfaction and student-life satisfaction. Mapping age-related differences in wellbeing structure across a large cross-national sample informs age-sensitive approaches to assessment, monitoring, and intervention.

Cantril Ladder or Overall Life Satisfaction? Comparing 0–10 Summary Indicators of Adolescent Wellbeing

Jose Marquez, Wanying Zhou, Leoni Boyle and Laura Taylor

Abstract

Despite widespread use in wellbeing research, little is known about whether the Cantril Ladder (CL) and Overall Life Satisfaction (OLS) questions (both 0–10 single-item indicators) capture the same construct in adolescent populations. We analysed data from 6,445 students aged 11–18 in 38 International Baccalaureate schools across 24 countries. We compared CL and OLS using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), regression models, and subgroup analyses. Mean CL and OLS scores were similar, but response distributions differed: OLS showed more extreme values and negative skew. In a CFA including other life evaluation measures, both OLS and CL items loaded on a shared life evaluation latent factor, but OLS showed higher loadings. OLS also showed stronger predictive validity than CL across measures of life evaluation, affect, and eudaimonic wellbeing. Subgroup analyses revealed interpretive differences across age, gender, and language groups (English, Spanish, and French). Both CL and OLS are valid indicators of adolescent life evaluation, but they are not interchangeable. OLS may be preferable as a summary measure due to stronger predictive performance, while CL may offer more consistent subgroup comparability. Researchers should consider these trade-offs when selecting or interpreting single-item measures of adolescent wellbeing.

Local Landscapes, Evolving Minds: Mechanisms of Neighbourhood Influence on Dual-State Mental Health Trajectories in Adolescence

Christopher Knowles, Emma Thornton, Kathryn Mills-Webb, Kimberly Petersen, Jose Marquez, Sanja Stojiljković and Neil Humphrey

Abstract

Neighbourhood variation in socioeconomic deprivation is recognised as a small but meaningful determinant of adolescent mental health, yet the mechanisms through which the effects operate remain poorly understood. This study used #BeeWell survey data collected from adolescents in Greater Manchester (England) in 2021–2023 (life satisfaction: N = 27,009; emotional difficulties: N = 26,461). Through Latent Growth Mixture Modelling, we identified four non-linear trajectories of life satisfaction (Consistently High (71.0%), Improving (8.7%), Deteriorating (6.3%), and Consistently Low (13.9%); entropy = 0.66) and three non-linear trajectories of emotional difficulties (Low/Lessening (53.7%), Sub-Clinical (38.3%), and Elevated/Worsening (8.0%); entropy = 0.61). Using a multi-level mediation framework we assessed (1) whether neighbourhood deprivation predicted trajectory class membership and (2) the extent to which effects of deprivation operate through aspects of Community Wellbeing, as measured by the Co-op Community Wellbeing Index (CWI). Greater deprivation increased the odds of following Deteriorating (OR = 1.081, [1.023, 1.12]) and Consistently Low (OR = 1.084, [1.051, 1.119]) life satisfaction trajectories and reduced the odds of following a Sub-Clinical emotional difficulties trajectory (OR = 0.975, [0.954, 0.996]). Mediation analyses revealed that the effects of deprivation on Consistently Low life satisfaction partially operate through Equality (ab = 0.016, [0.002, 0.029]) and Housing, Space, and Environment (ab = −0.026, [−0.046, −0.006]). Further indirect effects were observed for Housing, Space, and Environment, which reduced likelihood of Sub-Clinical emotional difficulties for those living in deprived neighbourhoods (ab = −0.026, [−0.045, −0.008]). The findings highlight the distinct effects of neighbourhood deprivation on affective and evaluative domains of adolescent mental health and the protective effect of housing and related environmental factors in disadvantaged contexts, advancing our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning neighbourhood effects on dual-state adolescent mental health.

Ethnic inequalities in adolescent mental wellbeing: An interaction analysis of social identity markers, risk and protective factors

Jessica Stepanous, Patricia Irizar, Kathryn Mills-Webb, Dharmi Kapadia, Qiqi Cheng, Jose Marquez and Neil Humphrey

Highlights

Minoritised ethnic young people show better mental wellbeing than White British peers.
Discrimination and bullying harm wellbeing more for certain ethnicities.
Own-ethnic density and parent support are more protective for some ethnic groups.
Traditional gender gap and effects of peer support are uniform across ethnicities.

Adolescent Wellbeing: The Role of Schools

Devi Khanna, Jose Marquez and Alexandra Turner

Abstract

Adolescence, spanning ages 10–24, is a period of significant transition marked by changes such as puberty, brain development, and shifts in social norms and relationships. As a malleable developmental context, adolescence presents an opportunity for early intervention for improving wellbeing over the life course. Taking a socioecological approach, this chapter outlines the integral role that schools can play in improving adolescent wellbeing as part of adolescents’ environment. This chapter draws on empirical literature as well as case studies of existing health and education policies around the world. In doing so, it considers the role and responsibility of schools for improving wellbeing outcomes; how different aspects of school impact wellbeing differently; and provide policy-based recommendations for how schools can most effectively promote adolescent wellbeing.

Bitesize research series highlights promising wellbeing interventions in schools

Researchers have highlighted some of the most promising pathways to improving wellbeing in schools in a new series of bitesize research reports.

An interdisciplinary team from the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, in partnership with the IB, have published a set of resources on five important wellbeing themes for students, teachers, and schools. The topics covered include:

Online interventions;
Peer relations (bullying);
Physical activity;
Teacher wellbeing;
And a whole school approach to wellbeing.

Researchers examined hundreds of peer-reviewed studies of wellbeing support in schools in order to identify some of the most promising evidence-based interventions.

While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to improving wellbeing in schools, the team have highlighted interventions which have been shown to boost levels of wellbeing in specific circumstances. They range from large-scale interventions trialled across countries, to smaller actions rolled out at a more local scale.

Resources are available both in a summary format (in English, French, and Spanish) and, for readers seeking further insight, as a number of detailed literature reviews (in English). An overview poster with key findings from all five reports, suitable for display in the classroom, is also available to download in English, French, and Spanish.

The mini reports serve as companion resources to two Wellbeing Research Centre reports previously published in partnership with the IB: Wellbeing in Education in Childhood and Adolescence (2022), and Wellbeing for Schoolteachers (2024).

Dr Laura Taylor, Deputy Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, said: “Each child and each school environment is unique, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to improving wellbeing in schools. We highlight how school leaders can use research evidence, alongside crucial elements like staff and student voice activities, in order to support the wellbeing of their school community.”

All five research reports, plus further resources for schools, can be found at wellbeing.hmc.ox.ac.uk/schools.

Longitudinal Relationships Across Bullying Victimization, Friendship and Social Support, and Internalizing Symptoms in Early-to-Middle Adolescence: A Developmental Cascades Investigation

Qiqi Cheng, Kathryn Mills-Webb, Jose Marquez, and Neil Humphrey

Abstract

Current understanding of the longitudinal relationships between different aspects of peer relationships and mental health problems in early- to mid-adolescence is limited. In particular, the role played by gender in these developmental cascades processes is unclear, little is known about within-person effects between bullying victimization and internalizing symptoms, and the theorized benefits of friendship and social support are largely untested. Addressing these important research gaps, this study tested a number of theory-driven hypotheses (e.g., interpersonal risk model, transactional model) regarding longitudinal relationships between bullying victimization, friendship and social support, and internalizing symptoms. The study sample was N = 26,458 adolescents (50.6% girls, average age 12 years 8 months (SD = 3.58 months) at baseline) attending k = 176 schools in Greater Manchester, England. Separating within-person effects from between-person effects, a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was applied to three annual waves of data. Analyses revealed that developmental cascade pathways varied across gender, as follows: higher rates of bullying victimization led to increased internalizing symptoms (partially for girls, fully for boys) and lower levels of friendship and social support (for girls only); higher levels of friendship and social support did not confer any protection against future bullying victimization (for girls or boys) but did lead to reduced internalizing symptoms (partially for girls, but not for boys); and, higher levels of internalizing symptoms led to increased rates of bullying victimization (for boys only) and lower levels of friendship and social support (partially for girls, fully for boys). Evidence of reciprocal relationships between bullying victimization and internalizing symptoms (for boys only) and between internalizing symptoms and friendship and social support (for girls only) was also found. Effect sizes of developmental cascade pathways varied but were mostly in the moderate-to-large range relative to the empirical distribution of cross-lagged effects in existing studies (i.e., 50th to 75th percentile). Sensitivity analyses indicated that findings were largely robust to a number of researcher-led analytic choices. The current study indicates that approaches to prevent or reduce the effects of bullying victimization should be prioritized, given the consistent evidence of its substantial role in increasing internalizing symptoms for both genders, in addition to its deleterious impact on girls’ friendship and social support. Preregistration: This study was preregistered at https://osf.io/xrwfq. The study design, hypotheses, and target analyses were registered.

Longitudinal relationships across sleep, physical activity, and mental wellbeing in early-to-mid-adolescence: a developmental cascades investigation

Jose Marquez, Margarita Panayiotou, Reihaneh Farzinnia, Qiqi Cheng, and Neil Humphrey

Abstract

Purpose Sleep (SL), physical activity (PA), and wellbeing (WB) are three factors linked to positive development in adolescence. Despite theoretical support and some empirical evidence of developmental associations between these factors, few studies have rigorously investigated reciprocal associations over time separating between-person and within-person effects, and none have investigated all three in concert. Thus, it remains unclear how the interplay between SL, PA and WB unfolds across time within individuals. This study examines this question in the crucial early-to-mid-adolescence developmental transition.

Method Separating between- and within-person effects, a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model was fitted to a dataset of N = 27,949 adolescents (age 12/13 at first timepoint) from Greater Manchester, England, using a three-by-three design (three annual timepoints: T1, T2, T3; three variables: SL, PA, WB).

Results Analyses revealed gender-specific developmental cascade pathways. Specifically, we found positive reciprocal associations between SL and WB for girls (at T1→T2), whereas for boys, SL positively predicted WB (at both T1→T2 and T2→Τ3) but WB did not predict SL. We also found that WB predicted PA for boys (at T2→T3) but this finding was sensitive to model specification and yielded a smaller effect than other cross-lagged pathways.

Conclusion Our results highlight the importance of sleep as a driver of adolescent wellbeing, and the role of gender in developmental cascade processes. Study strengths, limitations, and implications are discussed.

I live in Lithuania, the happiest place on earth for under 30s. As a very happy 28-year-old, here’s what it’s like.

Business Insider

Recently, Lithuania topped the World Happiness Report ranking for under 30s, with the country’s young people rating themselves 7.76 out of 10 on the happiness scale. I completely understand why, especially as a young person living in Vilnius.

Economic Development and Adolescent Wellbeing in 139 Countries

Jose Marquez, Ferran Casas, Laura Taylor and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

Abstract

There is a positive association between the level of economic development and national levels of overall life satisfaction (OLS) in the adult population, with decreasing marginal returns. However, research shows no association in early adolescence and a negative association in middle adolescence. We hypothesize that this is due to the exclusion of low-income countries, where adolescent wellbeing is rarely collected. 2015–2019 Gallup World Poll data from 139 countries in middle adolescence (age 15–17; n 36,907) were analysed using linear regression to study the association between country levels of economic development and OLS, positive emotions (PE), and negative emotions (NE), and how this varies across economic development levels, and gender. Variations across economic development levels were compared with those observed in the adult population. Log per-capita GDP is positively associated with OLS and PE, although in high-income countries no association is observed for PE, and among females for OLS. For NE, a negative association is observed in lower-income countries and a positive association in higher-income countries. In this age group (age 15–17), the log per-capita GDP – OLS association is stronger in lower-income countries than in higher-income countries, but this pattern reverses with age in adulthood. A nuanced relationship exists between economic development and adolescent wellbeing, which varies across measures, levels of economic development, gender, and age -including notable differences compared to adults. Our study highlights the need for improving child and adolescent wellbeing data worldwide, especially in lower-income countries, to better understand how best to support wellbeing globally.