| Summary: | The aim of the study was to determine whether adolescent psychological well being can
be significantly influenced by attributional style, general health, satisfaction with life and
self esteem. A cross-sectional research design was implemented for this study. An
availability sample of 130 learners from 2 high schools; namely Batloung and Kgobokwe
in the Ramatlabama area in rural North West Province (RSA) were chosen to collect data.
The learners were selected using the stratified random sampling technique. All
participants described themselves as equally traditional and westernised with a high value
placed on individual goals and community goals. The respondents were 12-22 years old.
Participants responded to a questionnaire consisting of six sections. The first section
comprised of biographical data. Psychological well-being was measured in terms of
distinctions between hedonism and eudaimonism. The Satisfaction With Life Scale
(SWLS) was used to measure hedonism and the PWB scale by Ryff (1995) was used to
measure eudaimonism. General health was measured by the 28 item General Health
Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The cognitive Attributional Style Questionnaire (CaQ)
measured attributional style. The I 0 item Rosenberg's Self Esteem Scale (SES) was used
to measure self esteem.
The quantitative data for the research, which was gathered through questionnaires,
was subjected to statistical analysis. This was done through the utilisation of the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS ver. 12). Descriptive statistics and
Cronbach alpha reliability indices were computed for each scale. Regression analysis
was used to establish the relative contribution made by the independent variables;
Attributional style (AS),Self Esteem (SE), General Health (GH) and Satisfaction With
Life (SWL); on the dependent variable (psychological well being). Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) is used to test the significance of R2 , which is the same as testing the significance of the regression model as a whole.
The results of the study generally show that satisfaction with life, attributional styles,
self -esteem and health meaningfully predict psychological well- being (R2 = .41). the
practical significance of the finding based on the Steyn's formulation was 0.69.
psychological well-being correlated positively with satisfaction with life, general health, and the external attributions made by learners. There were no significant differences
regarding 1he nature of attributions made by both male and female learners.
It is therefore recommended that adolescents get support from parents, engage in
challenging activities, positive life events, and interact more with significant others for
their well being. Further research into the mechanisms of how life satisfaction plays its
role in positive youth development is needed to promote the psychological well-being of
all youth. === M.Soc.Sc. (Clinical Psychology) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005
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