How Does Interpersonal Gratitude Relate to Adolescent Life Satisfaction? The Roles of Parent-Child Relationship and Attachment Insecurity

Existing literature on the relationship between interpersonal gratitude and life satisfaction in adolescents has been limited in terms of scope and methodology. Based on the psycho-social model proposed by Alkozei et al. (J Happiness Stud 19:1-24, 2018) and the attachment security enhancement model, this study used a three-wave longitudinal design to test both the mediating role of parent-child relationship and the moderating effect of attachment insecurity in the link between interpersonal gratitude (e.g., gratitude to parents) and life satisfaction among adolescents. A total of 1131 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 12.92, SD = 0.70; 51.5% girls) participated in this study. Overall, the results of the moderated mediation model indicated that, after controlling for baseline life satisfaction, parent-child relationship, age, and sex, interpersonal gratitude was longitudinally associated with parent-child relationship only for adolescents high in attachment insecurity, which in turn predicted improved life satisfaction. These findings have implications for interventions aimed at promoting well-being among adolescents with varying degrees of attachment insecurity.