Perceived social support and attachment styles in predicting adolescent subjective well-being

In this study, it was aimed to examine the explanation of adolescent subjective well-being by gender, attachment styles and perceived social support. Within the scope of the research, 706 students were reached from five schools in Gaziantep at the 9th, 10th and 11th grades at high school level. Of those who participated in the study, 362 were male and 326 were female, and 18 participants did not specify their gender. The model of the study was determined as the predictive correlational design. The Adolescent Subjective Well-Being Scale, the Three-Dimensional Attachment Styles Scale, and the Revision of the Perceived Social Support Scale were used to collect the data. In data analysis, Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the correlations between the variables, and hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine the predictive level of the independent variables for the dependent variable. According to the results of hierarchical regression analysis, in the first model, gender predicts adolescent subjective well-being positively and significantly. In the second model, the variable of attachment styles included in the analysis made a significant and positive contribution to predicting adolescent subjective well-being. Finally, the perceived social support variable included in the analysis in the third model also predicted adolescent subjective well-being positively and significantly. It was determined that 2% of adolescent subjective well-being was explained by gender, 17% by attachment styles and 13% by perceived social support. The total explained variance was found to be 32%. In this context, gender, attachment styles and perceived social support are significant predictors of adolescent subjective well-being. Subjective well-being levels of male students were found to be higher than female students, and adolescent subjective well-being differed significantly according to gender. The anxious-ambivalent attachment style of female students is higher than that of males, and the anxious-ambivalent attachment style differs significantly according to gender. Secure attachment style, avoidant attachment style and perceived social support did not differ significantly by gender.