Analyzing the role of resilience and life satisfaction as mediators of the impact of COVID-19 worries on mental health.

The aim of this study was to test whether resilience and life satisfaction (two traditional protective factors) mediate between COVID-19 related worries and the development of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in adolescents and young adults. Participants involved 392 adolescents and young adults (70.20% female) aged between 12 and 25 years (M = 17.05 years, SD = 3.08). Participants completed the COVID-19 related worries scale, the CD-RISC to analyse resilience, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 to study emotional symptoms. Descriptive analyses and Pearson correlations were conducted, together with a structural equation modeling testing a mediational model and multigroup invariance. Results show that resilience and life satisfaction play a mediating role in the relation between the COVID-19 related worries and emotional symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress). This study highlights the role of protective factors on adolescents' and young adults' emotional symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Psycho-emotional adjustment in parents of adolescents: A cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of the impact of the COVID pandemic.

PURPOSE: adolescence is a time of change and it generally entails a greater family vulnerability thus; the aim of this study was to identify the risk factors for poor emotional adjustment to COVID among parents of adolescents. DESIGN AND METHODS: 94 parents of adolescents (11-18 years old, M = 13.90, SD = 1.85) participated at different times during the state of alert in Spain. 91.5% were mothers. Their ages ranged from 35 to 63 years (M = 46.54; SD = 5.09). The variables assessed were anxiety, depression and stress (DASS), moods (MOOD), somatization (SCL) and resilience (CD-RISC). Descriptive analyses, t-tests, ANOVAs, correlations, and hierarchical regressions were performed. All this by means of a cross-sectional and longitudinal study design. RESULTS: at the beginning of the confinement parents showed low levels of emotional distress and moderate levels of positive emotionality and resilience. However, those with a prior psychological problem, who had lost their job, or had lost someone to the pandemic, showed worse emotional adjustment. Resilience was relevant in predicting anxiety-depressive symptoms, and a low level of happiness was relevant in predicting stress. Emotional symptoms improved over time, and resilience remained stable. CONCLUSIONS: the emotional impact of COVID over time is influenced by mood, mental health, and resilience. In addition, parents who had a previous health problem, had lost their job or a loved one, had a worse adjustment. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: it is important to carry out intervention programs that increase resilience, treating parents who require it, since their emotional adjustment has repercussions on the emotional adjustment of family system.

Social and Psychological Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Adolescents' and Young Adults' Mental Health: A Cross-Cultural Mediation Study.

The ongoing pandemic has dramatically disrupted daily life, increasing the risk of developing psychiatric disorders and poor mental wellbeing. The compound effects of social, political and psychological stressors have increased psychological symptoms among adolescents and young people, with worries about COVID-19 playing a central role in the clinical course of their mental health problems caused by the pandemic. The aim of this cross-cultural study was to examine the social psychological effects of COVID-19 on adolescents' and young people's mental health and wellbeing in Ibero-American population. Participants involved 6,283 adolescents and young adults from five different Spanish-Speaking countries (83.7% female) aged between 12 and 30 years (M = 18.79; SD = 3.48). Participants completed the Worries about COVID-19 and its Consequences Scale (W-COV), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Descriptive analyses, multivariate ANOVAs and Pearson correlations were performed, as well as Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) testing a mediational model. The results indicate cross-cultural difference in COVID-19 related worries, emotional symptoms and life satisfaction. Results from SEM confirmed the overall indirect effects of COVID-19 cases, political response and participants' conditions during lockdown on depression, anxiety, stress and life satisfaction mediated by COVID-19 related worries. These findings suggest that the social psychological factors underlying psychological symptoms could be partly explained by increased worries about COVID-19 and its personal, social, economic and political consequences, which may offer guidance to policy makers and health services for safeguarding youth mental well-being.

The Impact of Adolescent Internet Addiction on Sexual Online Victimization: The Mediating Effects of Sexting and Body Self-Esteem.

Adolescents' problematic use of the internet and the risk of sexual online victimization are an increasing concern among families, researchers, professionals and society. This study aimed to analyze the interplay between adolescents' addiction to social networks and internet, body self-esteem and sexual-erotic risk behavior online: sexting, sextortion and grooming. While sexting refers to the voluntary engagement in texting sexual-erotic messages, sextortion and grooming are means of sexual-erotic victimization through the use of the internet. Participants were 1763 adolescents (51% girls), aged 12 to 16 years (M = 14.56; SD = 1.16), from public (n = 1068; 60.60%) and private (n = 695; 39.40%) high schools in the Basque Country (Spain). We carried out structural equation modeling (SEM) using Mplus to assess the mediating effects of body self-esteem in the relationship between addiction to social media and internet and sexual-erotic risk behavior. The results showed that internet addiction predicts online sexual victimization; specifically, the best predictors of sexting, sextortion and grooming victimization were symptoms of internet addiction and geek behavior. Body self-esteem and sexting mediated the relationship between internet addiction and sexual online victimization in adolescents. These results highlight the importance of attending to adolescents' mental health regarding their online behavior, considering the risk and protective factors involved, due to its close association with online sexual victimization.