Differential Impact of Emotional and Contextual Factors Associated with COVID-19 on Adolescent Mental Health

During the confinement, there was an increase in the incidence of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. In this regard, affectivity is of particular interest, as emotions play a fundamental role in overall mental health. The literature on COVID-19 in this population has often focused on t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology research and behavior management 2024-01, Vol.17, p.147-156
Main Authors: Sánchez-López, María T, Llamas-Díaz, Desirée, Megías-Robles, Alberto, Gómez-Leal, Raquel, Gutiérrez-Cobo, María José, Fernández-Berrocal, Pablo, Cabello, Rosario
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adolescents
affectivity
Analysis
contextual variables
covid-19
Depression, Mental
Hardness
Mediation
Mental health
Original Research
Psychological aspects
Risk factors
Teenagers
Youth
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:During the confinement, there was an increase in the incidence of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. In this regard, affectivity is of particular interest, as emotions play a fundamental role in overall mental health. The literature on COVID-19 in this population has often focused on the analysis of risk factors for mental health, while less attention has been paid to protective factors. In this paper, we propose an inclusive model of risk and protective factors for adolescent mental health through the indirect effect of negative and positive affect. This was a cross-sectional study with a Spanish community sample of 477 adolescents (M = 16.23, range:14 to 20 years old; 43.4% were boys; response rate: 100%). We measured the perceived hardness of confinement, worrying about contagion, quality of relationships at home, pleasant activities, affect (positive and negative), and mental health. The results revealed a positive relationship between the perceived hardness of confinement and worrying about contagion with mental health, through the indirect effect of negative affect, and a positive relationship between home relationships and pleasant activities with mental health through an indirect effect of positive affect. Our results suggest that different types of emotions generated by the various contextual variables associated with COVID-19 may have a differential impact on mental health. These findings support the inclusive model of risk and protective factors for adolescent mental health. Practical implications, future studies, and limitations are discussed.
ISSN:1179-1578
1179-1578
DOI:10.2147/PRBM.S434365