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. 2025 Mar 17;13(6):659.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare13060659.

Adolescents' Well-Being and Democratic Parenting: Does Environmental Sensitivity Matter?

Nicolò Maria Iannello  1 , Nicla Cucinella  2 , Alida Lo Coco  2 , Sonia Ingoglia  2 , Costanza Baviera  3 , Cristiano Inguglia  2 , Francesca Lionetti  4 , Michael Pluess  5 , Maria Grazia Lo Cricchio  6
Affiliations

Adolescents' Well-Being and Democratic Parenting: Does Environmental Sensitivity Matter?

Nicolò Maria Iannello et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Background/Objectives: This study examines the relations between democratic parenting and adolescents' subjective well-being, focusing on the potential moderating role of youth environmental sensitivity. Three environmental sensitivity models (diathesis-stress, vantage sensitivity, differential susceptibility) were tested to unveil the heterogeneity of the effects of democratic parenting on adolescents' subjective well-being according to the type of environmental influences (positive, negative, both positive and negative) youths are more susceptible to. Methods: A sample of 321 Italian adolescents (75% females; Mage = 16.83, SD = 1.35) completed online self-report measures assessing perceptions of democratic parenting, environmental sensitivity, and various dimensions of subjective well-being (positivity, vitality, anxiety, and general health). Results: Three path analysis models were run to evaluate the associations between democratic parenting, environmental sensitivity, and youths' well-being. The results showed that democratic parenting was positively related to adolescents' positivity, vitality, and general health and negatively to anxiety. Adolescents with higher environmental sensitivity reported reduced subjective well-being. A moderating effect of environmental sensitivity was detected such that highly sensitive adolescents had lower general health when democratic parenting was low. Conclusions: These findings support a diathesis-stress model, suggesting that environmental sensitivity might be a vulnerability factor in less supportive environments.

Keywords: adolescence; democratic parenting; environmental sensitivity; well-being.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Hypothesized model for a generic well-being component.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Simple slopes plot of the relation between Democratic Parenting and adolescents’ general health moderated by adolescents’ Environmental Sensitivity. The shaded area represents the region of significance in Democratic Parenting.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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