Het welbevinden van adolescenten. Het mediatie-effect van de gegeneraliseerde angststoornis bij de samenhang tussen sekse, leeftijd, gezinssituatie en welbevinden.

Abstract

Background: Literature shows that sex, age and family situation (demographic variables) are related to both the well-being and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) of the adolescent. However, these are one-on-one relations. What the mediating effect is of GAD on the relation between the demographic variables and well-being has not yet been researched and will be researched in this study. Method: 231 boys and 269 girls aged 13 to 17 participated in the longitudinal study. The adolescents were following HAVO or VWO education and answered the questionnaires including the SCARED-NL and the Cantril Ladder individually. The research was conducted through a regression analysis. Results: The study showed that sex is significantly related to both well-being and GAD. When GAD is included as a mediator in the model, it shows that GAD partially mediates the relation between sex and well-being; boys had higher levels of well-being and scored lower on GAD. Conclusion: One can conclude that in this study boys indicate feeling better than girls. This can partially be explained by the fact that boys worry less than girls. More research to the mediating effect of GAD on the relationship between the demographic variables and well-being would be beneficial.