Subjective well-being has been defined as an association among positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction. This study aimed to investigate the subjective well-being of children and adolescents attending school and living with their families as compared to those living in youth offenders institutions. Two hundred ninety-seven children and adolescents in situations of social vulnerability aged between seven and sixteen years old (M = 11.22 years, SD = 2.13), 155 male (52.2%) and 142 female (47.8%) participated in the study. The instruments were a structured interview, a positive and negative affect scale, and a multidimensional life satisfaction scale. The results confirmed that institutionalized children/adolescents experienced more negative affect regarding development contexts. However, institutionalized children/adolescents did not differ from those living with their families in terms of life satisfaction and positive affect.
Subjective Well-being; Children and Adolescents; Positive Affect; Negative Affect; Life Satisfaction