ORIGINAL PAPER
The role of negative affects as mediators
in the relationship between stress and mental health in Ecuadorian adolescents
1
Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Ambato, Ecuador
2
University of Girona, Girona, Spain
3
Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
4
Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia
5
Technological University Indoamerica, Ambato, Ecuador
6
Higher Polytechnic School of the Litoral (ESPOL), Guayaquil, Ecuador
7
Camilo José Cela University, Madrid, Spain
Submission date: 2023-01-30
Final revision date: 2023-03-14
Acceptance date: 2023-04-20
Online publication date: 2023-06-26
Publication date: 2023-08-22
Corresponding author
Health Psychology Report 2023;11(3):241–251
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
psychological aspects of illnesschild and adolescent healthresearch methodology, measurement, and statistics in health psychology
ABSTRACT
Background:
Stress and negative emotions have adverse consequences for the mental health of adolescents, an area that deserves further examination. These attributes are associated with each other and regularly interact in different ways. The way they exert an influence can be both direct and indirect, so the general objective is to elucidate the potential mediating effect of negative affects in the relationship between stress and mental health in Ecuadorian adolescents.
Participants and procedure:
An explanatory and mediation design based on structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied with 1154 high school students from Ecuador (67.7% women) aged 14 to 19 years (M = 15.69).
Results:
In our sample, the presence of stress and negative affect is moderate, while that of mental health problems is low. Accord-ing to our final model, these variables covary with and influence each other in the following way: stress (X) has a direct effect on mental health (Y) and also an indirect effect mediated by negative affect (M). The structural regression model pro-posed explains 63% of the variance in mental health.
Conclusions:
Stress exerts a relevant impact on mental health, both through direct and indirect pathways. The indirect pathway, mediat-ed by negative affect, opens the door to novel interventional strategies to foster mental health.
Stress and negative emotions have adverse consequences for the mental health of adolescents, an area that deserves further examination. These attributes are associated with each other and regularly interact in different ways. The way they exert an influence can be both direct and indirect, so the general objective is to elucidate the potential mediating effect of negative affects in the relationship between stress and mental health in Ecuadorian adolescents.
Participants and procedure:
An explanatory and mediation design based on structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied with 1154 high school students from Ecuador (67.7% women) aged 14 to 19 years (M = 15.69).
Results:
In our sample, the presence of stress and negative affect is moderate, while that of mental health problems is low. Accord-ing to our final model, these variables covary with and influence each other in the following way: stress (X) has a direct effect on mental health (Y) and also an indirect effect mediated by negative affect (M). The structural regression model pro-posed explains 63% of the variance in mental health.
Conclusions:
Stress exerts a relevant impact on mental health, both through direct and indirect pathways. The indirect pathway, mediat-ed by negative affect, opens the door to novel interventional strategies to foster mental health.
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