Abstract: This study aims to examine the developmental trajectories of adolescent trait gratitude, meaning in life, and subjective well-being, as well as the dynamic relationships among them and the longitudinal mediating role of meaning in life. A self-report questionnaire was used to conduct a three-wave longitudinal study of 764 middle school students in Hunan Province. A multivariate latent growth model was used for analysis. Results showed that: (1) Adolescents trait gratitude, presence of meaning and subjective well-being all showed significant linear increases, and search for meaning decreased linearly; (2) The initial level of trait gratitude could positively predict the initial level of subjective well-being, and the growth rate of trait gratitude could predict the growth rate of well-being effectively; (3) At the initial level, both the presence of meaning and search for meaning played mediation role between trait gratitude and subjective well-being. And in the growth rate, only the presence of meaning played a mediating effect between them.This implies that the initial level of trait gratitude further influences the initial level of subjective well-being through the presence and search for meaning; The growth rate of trait gratitude further affects the growth rate of subjective well-being through the presence of meaning. These findings have practical implications for understanding critical period in adolescent psychological development and promoting healthy psychological growth.

Key words: adolescence, trait gratitude, presence of meaning, search for meaning, subjective well-being, multivariate latent growth model