Burgeoning research on the well-being of young people in recent years has made it difficult to identify conceptual gaps in the literature. We conducted a review of South African research in this area to better understand the use and measurement of the construct, as well as factors associated with it. The search of multiple databases identified 28 studies published in academic journals between 2000 and 2016. Within this period, studies that referred to well-being and its related subjective components varied significantly in terms of how they defined and operationalised these constructs, resulting in a fragmented body of work. The review highlights the need for a coherent research agenda in this area given the centrality of well-being research in promoting optimal outcomes in young people. Recommendations for strengthening South African research in this area are provided.
AntonovskyA. (1987). Unraveling the Mystery of Health. How People Manage Stress and Stay Well. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
2.
AntonovskyA. (1993). The structure and properties of the sense of coherence scale. Social Science Medicine, 36, 725–733.
3.
Bachman DeSilvaM.SkalickyA. M.BeardJ.CakweM.ZhuwauT.SimonJ. L. (2012). Longitudinal evaluation of the psychosocial wellbeing of recent orphans compared with non-orphans in a school-attending cohort in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 14, 162–182.
4.
Bar-OnR. (1988). The development of an operational concept of psychological well-being. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Rhodes University, South Africa.
BlockJ.KremenA. (1996). IQ and ego resiliency: Conceptual and empirical connections and separateness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 349–361.
7.
BojuwoyeO.SylvesterS. (2014). Subjective well-being of adolescent boys living in single-mother households in a Cape Town suburb, South Africa. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(23), 2017–2025.
8.
BoshoffC.GroblerH.NienaberA. (2015). The evaluation of an equine-assisted therapy programme with a group of boys in a youth care facility. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 25, 86–90.
9.
BriereJ. (1996). Trauma symptom checklist for children (TSCC) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
10.
BrookJ. S.BrookD.W.GordonA.S.WhitemanM.CohenP. (1990). The psychosocial etiology of adolescent drug use: A family interactional approach. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 116, 111–267.
11.
BrookD. W.RubenstoneE.ZhangC.MorojeleN. K.BrookJ. S. (2011). Environmental stressors, low well-being, smoking, and alcohol use among South African adolescents. Social Science & Medicine, 72, 1447–1453.
12.
BrookJ. S.MorojeleN. K.BrookD. W.RosenZ. (2005). Predictors of cigarette use among South African adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 12, 207–217.
13.
CarverC. S.ScheierM. F.WeintraubJ. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 267–283.
14.
ChengY.LiX.LouC.SonensteinF. L.KalamarA.JejeebhoyS.OjengbedeO. (2014). The association between social support and mental health among vulnerable adolescents in five cities: Findings from the study of the well-being of adolescents in vulnerable environments. Journal of Adolescent Health, 55(Suppl. 6), S31–S38.
15.
CluverL.GardnerF. (2006). The psychological well-being of children orphaned by AIDS in Cape Town, South Africa. Annals of General Psychiatry, 5, 8.
16.
CluverL.GardnerF. (2007). Risk and protective factors for psychological well-being of children orphaned by AIDS in Cape Town: A qualitative study of children and caregivers’ perspectives. AIDS Care, 19, 318–325.
17.
CoovadiaH.JewkesR.BarronP.SandersD.McIntyreD. (2009). The health and health system of South Africa: Historical roots of current public health challenges. The Lancet, 374, 817–834.
18.
CumminsR. A.LauA. D. L. (2005). Personal Wellbeing Index: School Children (PWI-SC) (3rd ed). Melbourne: Deakin University.
19.
DerogatisL.R.LipmanR. S.RickelsK.UhlenhuthE. H.CoviL.1974. The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL): A self-report symptom inventory. Behavioral Science, 19, 1–15.
DienerE. (2009). Assessing well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener. London, England: Springer.
22.
DienerE.EmmonsR. A.LarsonR. J.GriffinS. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.
23.
DodgeR.DalyA.HuytonJ.SandersL. D. (2012). The challenge of defining wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2, 222–235.
24.
DyregrovA.YuleW. (1995). Screening measures-The development of the UNICEF screening battery. Paper presented at the Fourth European Conference on Traumatic Stress. Paris, May 7–11.
25.
EdwardsS. D.NgcoboH. S. B.PillayA. L. (2004). Psychological well-being in South African university students. Psychological Reports, 95, 1279–1282.
26.
FlorenceM.KochE. (2011). The difference between adolescent users and non-users of addictive substances in a low socio-economic status community: Contextual factors explored from the perspective of subjective wellbeing. South African Journal of Psychology, 41, 477–487.
27.
GoodmanR. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 38, 581–586.
28.
GovenderK.MoodleyK. (2004). Maternal support and adolescent self-esteem. Journal of Children and Poverty, 10, 37–52.
29.
GovenderK.ReardonC.QuinlanT.GeorgeG. (2014). Children’s psychosocial wellbeing in the context of HIV/AIDS and poverty: A comparative investigation of orphaned and non-orphaned children living in South Africa. BMC Public Health, 14, 615.
30.
GuseT.VermaakY. (2011). Hope, psychosocial well-being and socioeconomic status among a group of South African adolescents. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 21, 527–534.
31.
HuebnerE. S. (1991). Initial development of the student’s life satisfaction scale. School Psychology International, 12, 231–240.
32.
JacksonL. T. B.van de VijverF. J. R.FoucheR. (2014). Psychological strengths and subjective well-being in South African white students. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 24, 299–307.
33.
JerusalemM.SchwarzerR. (1992). Self-efficacy as a resource factor in stress appraisal processes. In SchwarzerR. (Ed.), Self-efficacy: Thought Control of Action (pp. 195–213). Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
34.
JohnsonB.LazarusS. (2008). The role of schools in building the resilience of youth faced with adversity. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 18, 19–30.
35.
JonkerC. S.KoekemoerE.NelJ. A. (2015). Exploring a positive SWB model in a sample of university students in South Africa. Social Indicators Research, 121, 815–832.
36.
KahnemanD.DienerE.SchwarzN. (1999). Well-being: Foundations of hedonic psychology. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
37.
KeyesC. L. M. (2006). Mental health in adolescence: Is America’s youth flourishing?American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 395–402.
38.
KoenV.Van EedenC.VenterC. (2011). African female adolescents’ experience of parenting and their sense of well-being. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 21, 197–210.
39.
LiebenbergJ.RoosV. (2008). Preadolescent leaders: Critical reflections from a well-being perspective. South African Journal of Education, 28, 581–593.
40.
LippmanL.MooreK. A.GuzmanL.RybergR.McIntoshH.RamosM.. . . KuhfeldM. (2014). Flourishing Children: Defining and Testing Indicators of Positive Development. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
41.
LiuX.KaplanH. B. (1999). Explaining gender differences in symptoms of subjective distress in young adolescents.Stress Medicine, 15, 41–51.
42.
LouwD.LouwA. (2007). Child and adolescent development. Bloemfontein, South Africa: University of the Free State.
43.
LyubomirskyS.LepperH. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137–155.
44.
MahitiV. (2006). The quality of life of ‘street children’ accommodated at three shelters in Pretoria: An exploratory study. Early Child Development & Care, 176, 253–269.
45.
McCulluoughM. E.EmmonsR. A.TsangJ. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 112–127.
46.
MoherD.LiberatiA.TetzlaffJ.AltmanD. G., & PRISMA Group. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLoS Medicine, 6, e1000097.
47.
MosesS. (2006). The impact of neighbourhood-level factors on children’s everyday lives, well-being and identity: A qualitative study of children living in Ocean View, Cape Town. Social Dynamics, 32, 102–134.
48.
PienaarJ. M.BeukesR. B. I.EsterhuyseK. G. F. (2006). The relationship between conservatism and psychological well-being in adolescents. South African Journal of Psychology, 36, 391–406.
49.
PollardE. L.LeeP. D. (2003). Child well-being: A systematic review of the literature. Social Indicators Research, 61, 59–78.
50.
PretoriusT. B. (1998). Fortitude as Stress-Resistance: Development and Validation of the Fortitude Questionnaire (FORQ). Bellville: University of Western Cape.
51.
RadloffL. S. (1991). The use of the Center for Epidemiological Studies of Depression Scale in adolescents and young adults. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 20, 149–166.
52.
Ravens-SiebererU.GoschA.AbelT.AuquierP.BellachB.DiirW.RajmalL. & the European KIDSCREEN Group. (2008). Quality of life in children and adolescents: An European public health perspective. Social and Preventive Medicine, 46, 297–302.
RogersC. (1961). On becoming a person: A therapist’s view of psychotherapy. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
55.
RosenbergM. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
56.
RussellD. W. (1996). UCLA loneliness scale (Version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66, 20–40.
57.
RyffC. (1989). Beyond Ponce de Leon and life satisfaction: New directions in quest of successful aging. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 12, 35–55.
58.
RyffC. D.KeyesC. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719–727.
59.
SavahlS.AdamsS.IsaacsS.SeptemberR.HendricksG.NoordienZ. (2015). Subjective well-being amongst a sample of South African children: A descriptive study. Child Indicators Research, 8, 211–226.
60.
ScheierM. F.CarverC. S.BridgesM. W. (1994). Distinguishing optimism from neuroticism (and trait anxiety, self-mastery, and self-esteem): A re-evaluation of the Life Orientation Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 1063–1078.
61.
Schultze-LutterF.SchimmelmannB. G.SchmidtS. J. (2016). Resilience, risk, mental health and well-being: Associations and conceptual differences. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 25, 459–466.
62.
SchutteN. S.MalouffJ. M.HallL. E.HaggertyD. J.CooperJ. T.GoldenC. J.DornheimL. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 167–177.
63.
SeligmanM. (2011). Florescer: Uma nova compreensão sobre a natureza da felicidade e do bem-estar [Flourishing: A new understanding of the nature of happiness and well-being]. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Objetiva Publicações.
64.
SnyderC. R.HarrisC.AndersonJ. R.HolleranS. A.IrvinL.M.SigmonS. T.. . . HarneyP. (1991). The will and the ways; Development and validation of an individual-differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 570–585.
65.
SnyderC. R.HozaB.PelhamW. E.RapoffM.WareL.DanovskyM.. . . StahlK. J. (1997). The development and validation of the Children’s Hope Scale. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 22, 399–421.
SteynB.RouxS. (2009). Aggression and psychological well-being of adolescent Tae Kwon do participants in comparison with hockey participants and a non-sport group. African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance, 15, 32–43.
StrathamJ.ChaseE. (2010). Childhood wellbeing – A brief overview. Loughborough: Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre.
70.
TheronL. C.TheronA. M. (2010). A critical review of studies of South African youth resilience, 1990–2008. South African Journal of Science, 106(7–8), 1–8.
71.
TibesigwaB.VisserM.HodkinsonB. (2016). Effects of objective and subjective income comparisons on subjective wellbeing. Social Indicators Research, 128, 361–389.
72.
TiptonR. M.WorthingtonE. L. (1984). The measurement of generalized self-efficacy: A study of construct validity. Journal of Personality Assessment, 48, 545–548.
73.
Van RensburgA.TheronL.RothmannS. (2015). A review of quantitative studies of South African youth resilience: Some gaps. South African Journal of Science, 111, 1–9.
74.
Van SchalkwykI.WissingM. (2010). Psychosocial well-being in a group of South African adolescents. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 20, 53–60.
75.
VisserM.RoutledgeL.-A. (2007). Substance abuse and psychological well-being of South African adolescents. South African Journal of Psychology, 37, 595–615.
76.
WatermanA. (1993). Two conceptions of happiness: Contrasts of personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 678–676.
77.
WatsonD.ClarkL. A.TellegenA. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.
78.
WeathersF. W.LitzB. T.HuskaJ. A.KeaneT. M. (1994). PTSD Checklist -Civilian version. Boston: National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Science Division.
79.
WildL. G.GaibieF. (2014). Grandparental involvement and South African adolescents’ psychological well-being. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 12, 425–441.
80.
YoungC.StrelitzL. (2014). Exploring patterns of Facebook usage, social capital, loneliness and well-being among a diverse South African student sample. Communicare, 33, 57–72.
81.
ZimetG. D.DahlemN. W.ZimetS. G.FarleyG. K. (1988). The multidimensional scale of perceived social support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52, 30–41.
