Die verband tussen weerbaarheidsfaktore en lewenstevredenheid by adolessente: 'n kruiskulturele studie

The South African context poses additional challenges to the everyday challenges facing adolescents. South Africa’s ethnic diversity and the impact of apartheid influence the adolescent’s ability to cope in stressful situations. This ability, in turn, influences well-being in terms of life satisfaction. The present study investigates the relationship between adolescents’ resilience and life satisfaction across cultures. The sample consisted of 495 adolescents from 10 different schools in the Free State. The Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents (Prince-Embury, 2006) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) were used to measure resilience and life satisfaction respectively. Only responses by Black, White and Coloured respondents were utilised, as samples from the Asian group were too small for analysis. Results show above average resilience and life satisfaction for adolescents in Black, White and Coloured groups. Gender showed no significant relationship with life satisfaction, a sense of mastery, a sense of relatedness or with emotional reactivity. Ethnicity is significantly related to a sense of mastery and a sense of relatedness. For the White and Coloured group, results show that a sense of mastery is the only significant predictor of life satisfaction. For Black adolescents a sense of relatedness and emotional reactivity were found to be significant predictors of life satisfaction. Even with shortcomings such as language barriers and the overrepresentation of Black adolescents, the results from the present study can be used to encourage further research and the development of intervention programmes.