Subjective well-being of college students: Developmental trajectories, predictors, and risk for depression

Abstract

The study aimed to identify different developmental trajectories of subjective well-being for 2 473 college students from freshman to senior year (female = 47.15%; mean age = 19.6 years, SD = 0.894 years). We further explored the associations between categories of well-being development and depression levels across different groups of subjective well-being. Students completed a longitudinal survey over four academic years, self-reporting their subjective well-being, mental state, demographic characteristics, family background, and academic performance. Growth mixture model analysis revealed three distinct developmental trajectories of college students’ subjective well-being: high stable (HS), low increasing (LI), and high decreasing (HD). Factors such as sex, physical health, self-esteem, parental education level, and peer relationships were significantly associated with the subjective well-being classification trajectories. In addition, a stable and high level of subjective well-being was associated with lower risk for depression. The results indicate the importance of subjective well-being practices for students’ long-term schooling-related quality of life.