Subjective Well-Being of Children and Adolescents from Ethnic Minorities in Chile

In many countries, Indigenous populations have reported lower levels of subjective well-being (SWB) compared to non-Indigenous groups. However, research on this topic is still scarce in Latin America, particularly Chile, where Indigenous people from nine recognized ethnic minority groups represent 9.5% of the population. This study analyzes the SWB of children and adolescents pertaining to Indigenous ethnic minorities living in Chile. Participants were 44,451 students from 430 schools with low socioeconomic status (20.18% were from ethnic minorities) enrolled in fifth to eighth grade (M age = 12.47, SD = 1.41) who answered the Brief Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale and a single item on overall life satisfaction, which have been used as subjective well-being indicators. Findings showed that non-Indigenous adolescents reported higher subjective well-being, followed by the Mapuches and Aymara groups, with the other Indigenous group reporting the lowest scores. Well-being profiles were similar between the Mapuche and non-Indigenous groups and significantly different from the profiles of the Aymara and other Indigenous groups. We discuss these cross-cultural differences and their implications for policy and intervention.