Gender, age and multiple social support: Impact on the well-being of socially vulnerable youths

Abstract

The aim of this research is to understand to what extent structural factors such as gender and age, MSS coordination between sources, and the potential interaction between these factors is related to disadvantaged youths’ well-being. The study was carried out in twenty-three Escolhas projects of the metropolitan area of Lisbon. Data collection occurred between April and July of 2017. Two hundred and thirty-six adolescents aged 12 to 18 years old (M = 14.10; SD = 1.78; 60.20% boys) participated in this study. A three-class solution was retained after Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was conducted, because it guaranteed a more balanced participants’ distribution and a more feasible comparison between MSS patterns. Further analysis, using a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) showed that gender was not associated with greater quality-of-life; however, girls denoted higher social anxiety and depression rates, as hypothesized. In addition, younger participants presented higher rates of quality-of-life, but age was not related to negative well-being indicators as expected. Highattuned MSS proved to be an optimal pattern of MSS in terms of promoting greater quality-oflife, lower social anxiety, and lower depression among disadvantaged youths. The replication of this study in other contexts seems required, namely in rural settings given that in these areas resource deprivation tends to have greater impacts on disadvantaged youths’ well-being and development.