The relationship between family contexts and adolescent subjective well-being

Context and relevance. Strengthening the institution of the family and keeping children within their biological families are among the primary objectives of recent state policy documents in Russia. To effectively support families, it is essential to understand challenges from the perspective of adolescents themselves, who live in diverse family contexts. Objective. To examine the relationship between family contexts and adolescent subjective well-being. Hypothesis. Adolescents’ subjective well-being across several subdomains is interrelated with various characteristics of the family context. Additional hypothesis. Adolescents living in biological families will demonstrate higher levels of subjective well-being compared to those raised in substitute families or in institutional care (orphanage group homes). Methods and materials. The study involved 67,172 adolescents from 85 regions of Russia (mean age = 14.05; SD = 1.75 years; 54% girls). Subjective well-being was assessed using the original “Adolescent Subjective Well-Being Questionnaire.” Group comparisons by family context type were performed using an original mathematical model for calculating and constructing profiles of relative SWB, applying frequency analysis and Student’s t-test. Results. Adolescents’ subjective well-being was closely linked to the quality of the family environment: the highest SWB scores were observed in intact biological families, intermediate levels in single-parent and foster families, and the lowest in institutional care settings. Key differentiating factors included family material well-being, level of trust, chronotope (time-space organization of family life), regularity and quality of shared parent—child time, normalization of everyday routines, and respect for the adolescent’s opinion. Weakening kinship ties corresponded with a decline in the relative subjective well-being index. Specific subdomains can serve as actionable targets for professionals and parents to foster adolescents’ well-being. Conclusions. Family context significantly influences adolescents’ subjective well-being. The identified targets can inform the development of educational programs, psychosocial support strategies tailored to diverse family contexts, support initiatives for different family types, and parental education efforts. These findings should also be integrated into national and regional strategic documents on child-rearing and family policy.