Positive and Negative Emotional Experiences in Adolescents across 32 Countries: Cross-National and Gender Differences

Abstract

Despite a growing interest in adolescent subjective well-being, cross-cultural research on positive and negative affect in adolescents has been surprisingly scarce. Moreover, a cross-cultural evaluation of affective well-being measures in adolescents has lagged behind research in adults. The present study evaluated the cross-national and gender invariance of the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE), using adolescent samples from 32 countries (N = 17,489; age range = 14–19) spanning five continents. The original two-factor structure of the SPANE was supported in 29 of the 32 countries. We could establish partial metric invariance of the SPANE across countries and full or partial scalar invariance across gender in 18 and 11 countries, respectively. The alignment method showed evidence for approximate invariance across countries, allowing for cross-national means comparisons of positive and negative affect. In most countries, girls reported higher levels of negative affect, and no substantial gender differences in positive affect were observed. Cross-national differences in mean levels of positive and negative affect yielded complex findings. Our results suggest that the SPANE is a solid candidate for measuring emotional experiences among adolescents in large-scale cross-national studies.