Pathways to adolescent flourishing: linking perceived social support through emotional problems and resilience

Abstract

Both parental and peer support were found to be important factors in achieving flourishing; a state of positive psychological and social well-being in any situation. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of these associations. This study aims to examine the role of emotional problems and resilience in the associations between parental or peer support, and flourishing. The analyses were based on cross-sectional data of the Sentinel Survey for Students from the Trimbos Institute, consisting of 5587 Dutch adolescents aged 12-16 years (M = 13.90, SD = 1.38). For the mediation analysis, the PROCESS model in SPSS was used. Results showed significantly negative associations between parental or peer support and flourishing, with emotional problems as underlying mechanism. For resilience, the associations were significantly positive. The associations between parental support and flourishing, and peer support and flourishing remained significant throughout the analyses, the former being the strongest. Results indicate the possible need for increasing resilience by improving interpersonal relationships at school to enable flourishing in adolescents.