Exploring the Effect of Social Connectedness on Life Satisfaction in Adolescents: The Mediating Roles of Emotional Self-Efficacy and Anxiety

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between social connectedness and life satisfaction in adolescents. It specifically examined whether this relationship is mediated by emotional self-efficacy and anxiety, both independently and combined, using a serial mediation model. The research involved 308 adolescents enrolled in a Croatian high school, who were predominantly female (72.08%), with an average age of 16 years. Participants completed the Connectedness subscale from the EPOCH questionnaire (Kern et al., 2016) to measure social connectedness, the Emotional Self-Efficacy subscale from the Croatian version of the SEQ-C questionnaire (Vulić-Prtorić & Sorić, 2006) to measure emotional self-efficacy, the Anxiety subscale of the DASS-21 questionnaire (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) to assess anxiety, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985) to evaluate life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the serial mediation model. The results indicated that social connectedness has a positive direct effect on life satisfaction and a positive indirect effect through emotional self-efficacy. However, the indirect effect of social connectedness on life satisfaction via anxiety, as well as the serial mediation effect of emotional self-efficacy and anxiety in the relationship between social connectedness and life satisfaction, were not significant. These findings highlight the importance of fostering social connectedness and emotional self-efficacy in adolescents to enhance their life satisfaction. Conversely, the role of anxiety was found to be less impactful in this context.