Using parallel process latent class growth analysis in a population-based adolescent cohort, four distinct subjective well-being and psychopathology co-developmental trajectory classes were identified, with discrepant SWB-PP trajectories suggesting 'characteristic patterns of developmental integration between these domains during adolescence.'
Key Findings
Results
Four distinct co-developmental trajectory classes of subjective well-being (SWB) and psychopathology (PP) were identified in adolescence.
Classes were identified using parallel process latent class growth analysis (LCGA) with data from the Tokyo Teen Cohort (N = 2994).
The four classes were: high SWB-low PP (55.0%), high SWB-mid PP (20.2%), low SWB-mid PP (17.0%), and mid SWB-high PP (7.7%).
Measurements were taken at ages 10, 12, 14, and 16 years.
The study was a population-based prospective birth cohort study.
Results
Subjective well-being declined from ages 10 to 16 years across all four trajectory classes.
The decline in SWB was observed regardless of psychopathology level.
This pattern was consistent across all identified classes, including both the high SWB and lower SWB groups.
Data were collected at four time points: ages 10, 12, 14, and 16 years.
Results
Lower psychopathology did not necessarily correspond to higher subjective well-being, and in some class pairs the relationship between SWB and PP levels was reversed.
The high SWB-mid PP class had higher SWB than the low SWB-mid PP class despite equivalent PP levels.
The mid SWB-high PP class had higher SWB than the low SWB-mid PP class despite having higher PP.
These discrepancies indicate that SWB and PP are related but separate domains that do not follow a simple inverse relationship.
Results
Among the two classes with moderate psychopathology, higher aspirations, more prosocial behavior, and better interpersonal relationships were associated with the high SWB class.
These correlates distinguished the high SWB-mid PP class from the low SWB-mid PP class.
The comparison focused specifically on the two moderate-PP classes to isolate factors associated with SWB independent of PP level.
Sociodemographic, individual, familial, and socioenvironmental correlates were all investigated.
Results
Being female and having a higher household income were associated with the low SWB-mid PP class compared to the high SWB-mid PP class.
This finding suggests that female sex and higher household income were risk factors for lower SWB even at equivalent moderate levels of psychopathology.
These associations emerged from the comparison of the two moderate-PP trajectory classes.
The direction of the household income association (higher income linked to lower SWB class) was notable given typical assumptions about socioeconomic factors and well-being.
Background
The study identified that some individuals experience high SWB despite high PP, and others experience low SWB despite minimal PP.
This heterogeneity in SWB-PP combinations was present across the population-based sample of N = 2994.
The existence of the high SWB-mid PP class (20.2%) and mid SWB-high PP class (7.7%) illustrates co-occurrence of high SWB with elevated PP.
The low SWB-mid PP class (17.0%) illustrates low SWB in the context of only moderate psychopathology.
What This Means
This research followed nearly 3,000 children in Tokyo from age 10 to 16, measuring both their psychological wellbeing (how good they felt about their lives) and their psychopathology (symptoms of mental health problems like anxiety or depression) at four time points. The researchers found that teenagers naturally group into four distinct patterns: most (55%) had high wellbeing and few mental health symptoms, about 20% had high wellbeing but moderate symptoms, about 17% had low wellbeing with moderate symptoms, and roughly 8% had middling wellbeing despite high symptoms. Importantly, across all groups, teenagers' sense of wellbeing declined as they got older.
One of the most striking findings was that wellbeing and mental health symptoms do not simply mirror each other. Some teens had good wellbeing despite having significant mental health symptoms, while others reported poor wellbeing even when their symptoms were relatively mild. Among teens with similar levels of mental health symptoms, those with higher wellbeing tended to have greater ambitions, more helpful and caring behavior toward others, and better social relationships, while being female and coming from higher-income families was associated with lower wellbeing at equivalent symptom levels.
This research suggests that treating or reducing mental health symptoms alone may not be sufficient to support teenagers' overall mental health, and that wellbeing and psychopathology need to be considered and supported separately. Programs that foster positive social connections, prosocial behavior, and personal goals may help maintain wellbeing even in young people who are experiencing mental health difficulties. The finding that higher household income was linked to lower wellbeing among teens with moderate symptoms points to the complexity of adolescent mental health and challenges simple assumptions about what predicts how well teenagers feel about their lives.
Uno A, Nagaoka D, Minami R, Tanaka R, Sawai Y, Okuma A, et al.. (2026). Patterns of subjective well-being and psychopathology trajectories in adolescence: a population-based cohort study.. Psychological medicine. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291726104243