Over the years, much research has been devoted to examining the personal and social determinants of successful development over the course of adolescence (Compas et al., 1995 and Lerner and Steinberg, 2004). Adolescence involves the management of major biological, educational, and social role transitions that tend to occur concurrently. The success with which the challenges of these transitions are managed depends, to a large degree, on adolescents’ ability to behave appropriately in multiple domains.
Although most research has focused on the undesirable outcomes that may preclude healthy development (Cairns and Cairns, 1994, Cicchetti and Toth, 1998 and Jessor, 1998), no less important are the positive outcomes and personal factors that allow young people to navigate safely through the challenges of adolescence and set a successful life course. Thus, the scientific study of adolescence needs to explain why some youth cope effectively with taxing role demands and interpersonal strains whereas others withdraw in the face of challenges and, ultimately, may succumb to unhappiness and depression. An adequate psychological theory should also explain why some adolescents engage in persistent risky behaviors whereas the majority of youth avoid or desist (Moffit, 1993).
A new vision of adolescence points to the individual strengths that promote positive development (Damon & Gregory, 2003). It has become clear that individuals play a proactive role in their adaptation rather than simply undergo experiences that act on their personal liabilities (Bandura, 2006). In this regard, self-efficacy beliefs are among the knowledge structures that exert a pervasive influence on youths’ successful development. Unless young people believe they can produce desired results by their actions, they have little incentive to undertake activities or to persevere in the face of difficulties (Bandura, 1997).
Over the years, cross-sectional and longitudinal findings have attested to the role that multi-faceted self-efficacy beliefs exert in sustaining positive behaviors and preventing maladaptive behaviors over the course of adolescence. In particular, academic, social and self-regulatory efficacy beliefs have proved to contribute to the promotion of prosocial behavior (Bandura, Caprara, Barbaranelli, Gerbino, & Pastorelli, 2003), academic aspirations and career trajectories (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001), peer preference and academic achievement (Caprara, Barbaranelli, Pastorelli, & Cervone, 2004), as well as to prevent depression (Bandura, Pastorelli, Barbaranelli, & Caprara, 1999), shyness (Caprara, Steca, Cervone, & Artistico, 2003), internalizing and externalizing problems (Caprara et al., 2004) and engagement in transgressive behaviors (Bandura et al., 2001 and Caprara et al., 2002).
The present study aims to extend previous findings by examining the predictive power of self-efficacy beliefs related to relevant domains of functioning like: academic achievement, social relationships and resistance to transgressive peer pressures with respect to later adolescents’ life satisfaction. Recent reviews (Gilman and Huebner, 2003 and Huebner, 2004) have highlighted the importance of life satisfaction on adolescents’ positive adjustment. In particular, life satisfaction has been found to be positively related to key indicators of adaptive functioning including, self-esteem (Dew & Huebner, 1994), positive parent–child and interpersonal relations (Huebner, 2004), and academic ability and adjustment (Leung & Leung, 1992). In contrast, negative correlations have been found with depression and anxiety (Gullone & Cummins, 1999), externalizing and internalizing problems (McKnight, Huebner, & Suldo, 2002) and substance abuse (Zullig, Valois, Huebner, Oeltmann, & Drane, 2001). Academic, social and self-regulatory self-efficacy beliefs seem to be particularly relevant for adolescents’ life satisfaction, due to the influence that academic success, social competence and avoidance of risky behavior may exert in fostering desirable and satisfactory courses of life (Roeser et al., 1999 and Rubin et al., 2006).
As adolescents are exposed to major social and educational demands that may challenge their degree of confidence in their academic capacities (Caprara et al., submitted and Pajares, 2006), the extent to which changes in self-efficacy beliefs are associated to later life satisfaction were examined in the study. As previous studies have supported the differential impact of self-efficacy beliefs in males and females on diverse outcomes, like depression (Bandura et al., 1999 and Bandura et al., 2003) and antisocial behavior (Caprara et al., 2002 and Bandura et al., 2001), the moderating role of gender was kept under control.
In addition to the predictive power of self-efficacy beliefs, the predictive power of academic achievement and peer acceptance was examined. Indeed, both academic success and peer preference have been shown to be determinants of youth’s satisfaction (Cheng and Furnham, 2002 and Kirkcaldy et al., 2004). While academic success is related to a more satisfying academic and professional career (Bandura, 1997 and Pajares, 2006) and negatively associated with problem behaviour and internalizing problems (Roeser et al., 1999), adolescents’ level of acceptance in peer groups is relevant for their adjustment (Rubin et al., 2006). Youths who are more accepted by their peers usually demonstrate higher social skills, are more able to regulate negative emotions, report higher self-esteem (Berndt, 1996) and are at lower risk for externalizing (Dodge et al., 2003) and internalizing problems (Burks et al., 1995 and Prinstein and La Greca, 2002).
Ultimately, we aimed to examine the extent to which self-efficacy beliefs may serve as predictors of life satisfaction beyond academic achievement and peer preference.
