Subjective Well-being of Vulnerable Children in Chile: Differences by Gender and Risk Assessment

In recent years, research on subjective well-being in childhood and adolescence has gained importance at the international level. However, knowledge of the well-being of children whose rights have been violated and who are at risk of social exclusion is still scarce. The aim of this study was to examine the subjective well-being of children and adolescents receiving care in outpatient programs of the National Service for the Specialized Protection of Children and Adolescents of Chile, with emphasis on differences in gender and type of program (“Prevention”, “Recovery” and “Recovery + behavior”). The SLSS, OLS, PWI-SC, and Positive and Negative Affect Scale questionnaires were completed by 439 children between 10 and 18 years of age. By means of a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), it was observed that girls presented significantly lower subjective well-being in all well-being measures compared to boys. Significant differences were also observed at the program level, with children admitted to the “Prevention” program showing significantly greater well-being with respect to those admitted to the “Recovery” and “Recovery + behavior” programs. It is worth noting that children admitted to the “Recovery + behavior” program presented significantly low values of well-being. We discuss the need to highlight gender differences in designing and implementing programs for children and adolescents currently living in vulnerable situations. Also discussed is the importance of strengthening preventive programs to ensure that the risk factors underlying the violations of the rights of this group do not become chronic.