The Interplay of Affect, Depression, and Life Satisfaction in Chile

Abstract

This study examined the simultaneous relationships among life satisfaction, positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), and depressive symptomatology in a sample of 599 Chilean adults. Participants completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10). Hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling, guided by the tripartite model of depression (Clark & Watson, 1991) and the subjective well-being framework (Diener et al., 2018). The model demonstrated acceptable fit (CFI = .914; TLI = .906; RMSEA = .058; SRMR = .063). Three of six hypotheses were supported: PA negatively predicted depressive symptoms (β = −.237, p < .001), NA positively predicted depressive symptoms (β = .655, p < .001), and PA and NA were negatively correlated (β = −.332, p < .001), together accounting for approximately 59% of the variance in depression. Life satisfaction did not significantly predict depressive symptoms once affect was accounted for, and neither PA nor NA significantly predicted life satisfaction. These findings support the applicability of the tripartite model in a non-clinical Chilean adult sample and suggest that affective dimensions — particularly NA — are more proximally associated with depressive symptomatology than the cognitive-evaluative component of well-being, underscoring the importance of modeling these constructs jointly rather than treating them as interchangeable indicators of mental health.