Peer attachment and class emotional intelligence as predictors of adolescents' psychological well-being: A multilevel approach Nekane Balluerka * , Arantxa Gorostiaga, Itziar Alonso-Arbiol, Aitor Aritzeta University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Spain article info Article history: Keywords: Well-being Positive affect Peer attachment Class emotional intelligence Gender Multilevel approach abstract The aim of the study was to analyze whether gender, age, peer attachment, and class-level emotional intelligence could predict adolescents' psychological well-being by applying a multilevel approach. The sample comprised 2182 secondary school students from the BasqueCountry (northern Spain) (from 118 classrooms, 51.6% girls), aged between 12 and 18 years. A two-level model (with students nested into classes) was used to analyze the inﬂuence of three level-one covariates (gender, age, and peer attachment) and one level- two covariate (class-level emotional intelligence) on the positive affect component of psychological well-being. The results showed an overall decrease in well-being as ado- lescents grow older, and an increase linked to a higher peer attachment. Furthermore, class-level emotional intelligence showed a positive relationship with students' well- being. This group-level covariate also strengthened the effect of peer attachment on the well-being. The advantages of using a multilevel approach for predicting mental health and psychological adjustment are discussed. © 2016 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Like adults in the workplace, most adolescents spend a considerable amount of time of the day in a classroom. Apart from learning academic-related contents, in this setting adolescents also acquire life skills and personal and emotional compe- tences. Parental attachment has often been studied to help to explain adolescents' psychological well-being. Secure attachment with parents is associated with several well-being outcomes, such as higher levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction (e.g., Armsden & Greenberg, 1987; Gomez & McLaren, 2007), higher emotional and social competence (e.g., Laible, 2007; Muela, Balluerka, & Torres, 2013; Muela, Torres, & Balluerka, 2012), and higher emotion regulation (e.g., Allen & Miga, 2010). However, the speciﬁc role of peers at the individual and group-level has received less attention, despite the associ- ations found between peer attachment and self-esteem (Gallarin & Alonso-Arbiol, 2012) and the results of other studies indicating that the quality of peer relationships is also relevant to adolescents' development and adjustment (for an overview see Allen, 2008). Due to adolescents' growing tendency to afﬁliate with their peers (Hazan & Zeifman, 1994) and to get more involved in peer group activities (Lerner & Steinberg, 2004), the impact of the emotional support adolescents receive from their peers on their psychological well-being is undeniable. Nevertheless, the inﬂuence of adolescents' perceptions of * Corresponding author. Social Psychologyand Behavioral Sciences Methods Department, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Avda. de Tolosa nº 70, 20018 San Sebasti an, Spain. Fax: þ34 943015670. E-mail address: nekane.balluerka@ehu.eus (N. Balluerka). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Adolescence journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jado http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.08.009 0140-1971/© 2016 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Journal of Adolescence 53 (2016) 1e9