Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>The COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant risks to adolescents’ mental health, raising ongoing concerns about their life satisfaction in the context of global stress. Drawing from risk and resilience theory, the present study examined whether supportive relationships and emotion regulation serve as promotive and protective factors in the association between retrospectively reported COVID-19-related distress and adolescent life satisfaction. Participants were 219 students (grades 5–7; 52.5% female, 84.9% Black) attending an urban, tuition-free charter school in Alabama. Students completed self-report surveys in March 2023 measuring COVID-19 distress, supportive relationships, emotion regulation, and life satisfaction. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that both supportive relationships and emotion regulation were significant positive predictors of life satisfaction. COVID-19 distress, however, did not emerge as a significant predictor. Notably, supportive relationships moderated the association between COVID-19 distress and life satisfaction, such that strong supportive relationships served as a protective factor buffering the detrimental effects of COVID-19 distress. These findings suggest that supportive relationships (interpersonal resources) play a dual promotive and protective role in adolescent well-being, whereas emotion regulation (intrapersonal resources) functions primarily as a promotive factor. Results underscore the importance of fostering strong interpersonal support systems and emotion regulation skills to enhance resilience among adolescents, particularly in under-resourced communities disproportionately affected by public health crises. Findings provide theoretical and practical implications for resilience frameworks, educational ecosystem, and social-emotional learning interventions.</p>