Abstract

Adolescents’ mental health and well-being is a public health concern. We examined gender differences in stress, psychological distress and well-being and predictors of distress and well-being in adolescent boys and girls. A cross-sectional study with a sample of 954 Spanish adolescents aged between 13 and 17 years was conducted. All participants were assessed through questionnaires that measure psychological distress, eudaimonic well-being, life satisfaction, stress, coping styles, masculine/instrumental and feminine/expressive traits, self-esteem and social support. We find that girls scored higher than boys in psychological distress, chronic stress, minor daily hassles, social support, eudaimonic well-being and in feminine-expressive trait whereas boys scored higher than girls in detachment coping style and in masculine-instrumental trait. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that the most relevant variable in the psychological distress of both girls and boys was higher emotional coping style, followed by higher number of life events during the previous year. The most relevant variables in boys’ and girls’ psychological well-being were higher self-esteem and social support. Higher scores in rational coping style and in masculine/instrumental trait were also important predictors of eudaimonic well-being in adolescent boys and girls. Furthermore, in boys, older age was associated with greater distress and lower well-being and life satisfaction, while, as for the girls, a smaller number of life events and greater emotional coping style were associated with lower eudaimonic well-being and life satisfaction. Results are relevant for the design of policies and programs aimed at promoting mental health and well-being in adolescence.

摘要

青少年的心理健康和福祉是一个公共卫生问题。我们检查了青春期男孩和女孩在压力、心理困扰和幸福感方面的性别差异以及痛苦和幸福感的预测因素。对 954 名 13 至 17 岁的西班牙青少年进行了一项横断面研究。所有参与者都通过问卷进行评估，这些问卷衡量心理困扰、幸福感、生活满意度、压力、应对方式、男性/工具和女性/表达特征、自尊和社会支持。我们发现，女孩在心理困扰、慢性压力、日常小麻烦、社会支持、幸福感和女性表达特质方面的得分高于男孩，而男孩在超然应对方式和男性工具特质方面的得分高于女孩。分层多元回归分析显示，与女孩和男孩的心理困扰最相关的变量是较高的情绪应对方式，其次是前一年较高的生活事件数量。与男孩和女孩的心理健康最相关的变量是更高的自尊和社会支持。理性应对方式和男性化/工具性特征的高分也是青春期男孩和女孩实现幸福感的重要预测因素。此外，在男孩中，年龄较大与更大的痛苦和较低的幸福感和生活满意度有关，而对于女孩来说，较少的生活事件和更好的情绪应对方式与较低的幸福感和生活满意度有关.