Changes in and Stability of Well-Being During Adolescence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies Over Two Decades

In this meta-analytic review, we examine the development of well-being during adolescence by synthesizing mean-level changes and rank-order stability in longitudinal studies. We conceptualize well-being as a multidimensional construct that includes hedonic well-being, eudaimonic well-being, and quality of life. To compute effect sizes, we used the standardized mean change d per year and test-retest correlations adjusted for measurement error. Analyses of the mean-level change were based on 502 effect sizes from a total of 551,009 adolescents. Analyses of the rank-order stability were based on 427 effect sizes from a total of 515,081 adolescents. The results showed that well-being declines every year (d ̅_year = −.03) and the cumulative decline during adolescence is d= -.27. The rank-order stability is high (r ̅ = .62). Only the linear function of age was positively related to rank-order stability. Moderator analyses showed that the findings for mean-level changes and rank-order stability were consistent across gender, birth cohort, ethnicity, economic development of the country, concepts of well-being, positive and negative aspects of well-being, and the quality of studies. Time interval length was negatively associated with rank-order stability. The subgroup analysis of the positive and negative aspects of well-being revealed that younger generations born after 2000 are more likely to experience greater declines in well-being. In sum, well-being tends to decline during adolescence, yet well-being is stable. These findings provide a clear and precise picture of the changes in well-being and the stability of well-being during adolescence.