“Psychological Well-being of Children, Adolescents and Youth: What matters?”

Shue-Ling Chong (International Medical University, Malaysia)

Improving psychological well-being of children, adolescents and youth is known as one of the top priorities to promote healthy human development. In order to promote psychological well-being among the younger population, it is crucial to improve our understandings of factors contributing to psychological well-being through relevant studies. Guided by the overarching objective of understanding psychological well-being of children, adolescents, and youth, I have conducted several studies in recent years. This seminar aims to provide highlights of results for the relevant recent studies. Recent findings show the important role of social support from various sources, such as parents, peers, and teachers in predicting psychological well-being of the younger generation, including their life satisfaction, mental well-being, and non-substance addiction (e.g., smartphone addiction). I have also expanded my studies to compare the results cross-culturally in different countries. This preliminary study found that social support from various sources impacted different aspects of psychological well-being for young people in different countries. Lastly, I will also be discussing my on-going interests as well as providing an overview of the future direction.