Personal Variables of Protection against Cannabis Use in Adolescence: The Roles of Emotional Intelligence, Coping Styles, and Assertiveness as Associated Factors.

(1) Background: Many public bodies have warned of the increased consumption of cannabis, particularly among adolescents. From the Positive Youth Development approach, the promotion of personal protective factors takes on special importance against some risks, such as the consumption of addictive substances. (2) Methods: This research is one of the first to study the role of trait and ability emotional intelligence in relation to cannabis use and with respect to other personal variables of protection, such as coping styles and assertiveness. For this purpose, a final sample of 799 schoolchildren was obtained. (3) Results: After controlling for age and gender, the results of the regression analyses revealed that emotional perception, emotional facilitation, emotional clarity, emotional repair, active coping style, and assertiveness were inversely and significantly associated with cannabis use behaviors. On the other hand, the emotional attention and avoidant coping style factors were positively and significantly associated with these behaviors. (4) Conclusions: These findings provide new evidence that could be useful in terms of guiding health-promoting clinical and educational interventions at an early age.

Cognitive emotion regulation strategies mediate the relationships between Dark Triad traits and negative emotional states experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 has become a major source of stress as it puts individuals at risk of a range of mental health problems. Personality traits may predispose people to use adaptive or maladaptive coping strategies that lead to different health-related outcomes. The goal of the present study was to examine whether the use of distinct coping strategies during this stressful COVID-19 outbreak mediates the relationships between Dark Triad (DT) traits and stress, depression, and anxiety. The study was conducted in Poland (N = 1086) and Spain (N = 582), thus cross-culturally validated measures were used to assess depression, anxiety and stress (DASS-21), cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERQ) and socially aversive traits covered by DT (Dirty Dozen scale). The study shows that maladaptive CERS mediates the relationships between narcissism/Machiavellianism and stress, anxiety and depression. Additionally, adaptive CERS mediates the relationship between psychopathy and depression. The results provide a better understanding of the mediating role of CERS on the relationships between DT traits and the stress, anxiety and depression experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bullied Adolescent's Life Satisfaction: Personal Competencies and School Climate as Protective Factors.

Although adolescence has been defined as a stage of vulnerability, due to the biopsychosocial changes that happen throughout this developmental stage, it is also one of growth. Some of the core personal competencies that have been identified to promote positive development at this stage while simultaneously preventing risks are: (1) a positive sense of self, (2) self-regulation, (3) decision-making skills, (4) a moral system of belief, and (5) prosocial connectedness. There are many factors and contexts that influence adolescent development. The school climate, for example, has the capacity to promote positive development and life satisfaction, yet on the other hand, it is a context within which different forms of violence, such as bullying, can occur. The principal aim of this study, therefore, is to analyze the influence that bullying has on one's life satisfaction, while taking into account participants' socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., gender and developmental stage), their core personal competencies (i.e., problem solving strategies, empathy, emotional repair, self-esteem, and values), and the school climate. To obtain data, a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted with a sample of 647 Spanish students (53.3% female), ranging in age from preadolescence (10-13 years old; 60.3%) to mid-adolescence (14-18 years old; 39.7%), and belonging to diverse socio-economic contexts (15.3% rural) and schools (32.1% public). After gaining informed consent from both the participants and their parents, students completed the survey voluntarily, and under anonymity. Initially results show that gender, developmental stage, and having been bullied were predictors of participants' levels of life satisfaction. When the core personal competencies were also considered in data analysis process, self-esteem, emotional repair, and social values were those demonstrating significant effects on one's life satisfaction; moreover, being bullied was a significant predictor too. Finally, after taking school climate into account, only this variable as well as self-esteem and emotional repair were significant predictors of life satisfaction: the other assessed variables were no longer found to be significant predictors (i.e., gender, developmental stage, being bullied, and social values). These results have important implications for education objectives, methodologies, and school functioning: school climate, self-esteem and emotional repair seem to be particularly important for promoting student life satisfaction and for preventing the negative consequences associated with being bullied.