Measuring Adolescent Life Satisfaction: Psychometric Properties of the Satisfaction With Life Scale in a Sample of Italian Adolescents and Young Adults

Subjective well-being (SWB) is an important and highly relevant research topic in psychology (Lucas, Diener, & Suh, 1996; Wu & Yao, 2006) that includes a cognitive component labeled satisfaction with life (Andrews & Withey, 1976; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985), defined as an overall evaluation of a person’s life (Pavot & Diener, 1993; Pavot, Diener, Colvin, & Sandvik, 1991). Diener and colleague’s (1985) Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) remains one of the most popular scales for assessing global life satisfaction (Oishi, 2006). The psychometric properties of the SWLS have been evaluated in numerous studies (e.g., Lucas et al., 1996; Oishi, 2006) and different national settings (e.g., Arrindell, Heesink, & Feij, 1999; Atienza, Balaguer, & Garcı́a-Merita, 2003; Glaesmer, Grande, Braehler, & Roth, 2011). To date, no exhaustive examination has been conducted to verify the psychometric properties of the SWLS in Italy. This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of SWLS in a sample of adolescents and young Italian adults.