Forgiving Adolescents: Far From Depression, Close to Well-Being.

Forgiveness has been proven to be an effective way of regulating negative affect and decreasing depression. This study aimed at examining the relationship among constructs particularly relevant to adolescents' well-being, including forgivingness (dispositional forgiveness) anger, depression and Hedonic Balance (HB). Specifically, using a structural equation modelling approach, the fully mediational role of the different facets of anger in the relationship between forgiveness and depression was tested in 773 adolescents, of which 69% girls. Results showed that forgivingness was positively and negatively related to, respectively, HB and depression, through a general effect of anger, suggesting that more forgiving adolescents had higher HB and lower depression as they reported a lower general tendency to experience anger. Forgivingness was also positively related both to HB and to depression through the mediation of all the facets of Anger. Moreover, only for HB, a specific effect of Anger-control was found, suggesting that more forgiving adolescents had higher HB as they reported higher strategies to control anger in a functional manner. The model invariance was supported across gender. Our results suggest that forgiveness is a significant protective factor against depression for adolescents, helping them to effectively control and manage anger, thus fostering emotional health. An important clinical implication of our study regards the potential of forgiveness as a resource for well-being in therapy: among the various possible protective factors in adolescence, forgiveness has the added advantage that it can be fostered in clinical settings, and working on forgiveness in psychotherapy or in counselling could decrease adolescent depression and improve well-being.

Ego-resiliency development from late adolescence to emerging adulthood: A ten-year longitudinal study.

This study examined the development of ego-resiliency from late adolescence to emerging adulthood, using a 10-year cohort-sequential design. Participants were 335 Italian adolescents (173 females and 162 males), living, at the time of the study, in Genzano, a small city near to Rome. Latent growth curve analyses indicated that the developmental trajectory of ego-resiliency from 15 to 25 years is adequately described by a piecewise model that included separate growth profiles corresponding to different developmental stages. Essentially, ego-resiliency remained remarkably stable until the end of high school, and then encountered a phase of relative increase. Moreover, the trajectory of ego-resiliency from ages 15 to 19 was predicted by self-efficacy beliefs in managing negative emotions, and the trajectory from age 19 to 25 was predicted by experienced familial support and self-efficacy beliefs in expressing positive emotions at age 15. Experienced stressful life events also accounted for individuals' deviation from the typical ego-resiliency trajectory.

The Relation of Pro-Sociality to Self-Esteem: The Mediational Role of Quality of Friendships.

The present longitudinal study examined the role of quality of friendship in mediating the relation of pro-sociality to self-esteem over time. Participants were 424 Italian young adults (56% females) assessed at two waves (M(age) = 21.1 at Time 1; M(age) = 25 at Time 2). An autoregressive cross-lagged panel model was used to test the mediational model. Self- and friend-report measures of pro-sociality, quality of friendship, and self-esteem were included in the analyses. Results were in line with the hypothesized paths, with quality of friendship mediating the relation of pro-sociality to later self-esteem above and beyond its high stability. Self-esteem, in turn, predicted pro-sociality 4 years later. Overall, the present findings support the potential benefits of behaving pro-socially for an actor in terms of increased perceived self-worth and also expand previous work by outlining the specific mediational role of the quality of friendships. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Reciprocal Relations Between Emotional Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Ego-Resiliency Across Time.

The present study examined the longitudinal relations of adolescents' self-reported ego-resiliency to their emotional self-efficacy beliefs in expressing positive emotions and in managing negative emotions as they moved into early adulthood. Participants were 239 females and 211 males with a mean age of 17 years (SD = .80) at T1, 19 years (SD = .80) at T2, 21 years (SD = .82) at T3, and 25 years (SD = .80) at T4. A four-wave cross-lagged regression model and mediational analyses were used. In a panel structural equation model controlling for the stability of the constructs, reciprocal relationships across time were found between ego-resiliency and emotional self-efficacy beliefs related to the expression of positive emotions and to the management of negative emotions. Moreover, the relation between ego-resiliency assessed at T1 and T3, and ego-resiliency assessed at T2 and T4, was mediated through emotional self-efficacy beliefs (at T2 and T3, respectively), and vice versa. The posited conceptual model accounted for a significant portion of variance in ego-resiliency and has implications for understanding the development of ego-resiliency.

Prosociality during the transition from late adolescence to young adulthood: the role of effortful control and ego-resiliency.

The present prospective study examined the prediction of prosociality from effortful control and ego-resiliency from late adolescence to emerging adulthood. Participants were 476 young adults (239 males and 237 females) with a mean age of 16 years (SD = .81) at T1, 18 years (SD = .83) at T2, 20 years (SD = .79) at T3, 22 years (SD = .81) at T4, and 26 years (SD = .81) at T5. Controlling for the stability of the examined variables and the effect of potential confounding variables (i.e., sex, socioeconomic status [SES], and age), results supported a model in which a temperamental dimension, effortful control, positively predicted a specific behavioral tendency (i.e., prosociality) indirectly through mediation by a personality factor (i.e., ego-resiliency). Practical implications of the results are discussed in terms of the importance of early prevention efforts designed to enhance the capacity to cope effectively with emotional reactions and difficult situations.

Association between positivity and smoking cessation.

The literature documents that personality characteristics are associated with healthy lifestyles, including smoking. Among positive traits, Positivity (POS), defined as a general disposition conducive to facing experience under a positive outlook has shown robust associations with psychological health. Thus, the present study investigated the extent to which POS is able to predict (i) relapse after quitting smoking and (ii) the desire to smoke again. All participants (481) had previously attended a Group Counselling Program (GCP) for Smoking Cessation (from 2005 through 2010). They were contacted through telephone interview. Among participants, 244 were ex-smokers (age: years 56.3 ± 10.08, 52% female) and 237 were still-smokers (age: years 55.0 ± 9.63; 63.5% female). The association of POS with "craving to smoke" levels was assessed with multivariate linear regression analysis while controlling also for important differences in personality such as conscientiousness and general self-efficacy, as well as for gender and age. Results showed that POS was significantly and negatively associated with smoking status and with craving to smoke. Among covariates (i.e., conscientiousness, generalized self-efficacy), gender was associated with smoking status and with craving to smoke. Altogether these findings corroborate the idea that POS plays a significant role in sustaining individuals' efforts to quit smoking.

Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to adulthood: associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems.

The goal of this longitudinal study was to investigate the relation of adolescents' Big Five factor (BFF) personality to the development of different patterns of mother-adolescent hostile, aggressive conflict (MHAC) from late adolescence to young adulthood. Furthermore, we examined the prediction of Antisocial Problems (AP) and Depressive Problems (DP) in emerging adulthood from BFF and MHAC trajectories. 385 adolescents participated in this study (age 15-16 at Time 1 and 21-22 at Time 4). Using latent growth curve analysis, Low stable (69.1%), Medium Increasing, (23.3%), and High decreasing (7.6%) trajectories were distinguished. Low adolescents' emotional stability was directly related to AP and indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation of both Medium Increasing and High Decreasing trajectories. Agreeableness was directly negatively related to DP and indirectly throughout the mediation of High Decreasing trajectory. Low Conscientiousness was indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation of Medium Increasing trajectory. 385 adolescents participated in this study (age 15-16 at Time 1 and 21-22 at Time 4). Using latent growth curve analysis, Low stable (69.1%), Medium Increasing, (23.3%), and High decreasing (7.6%) trajectories were distinguished. Low adolescents' emotional stability was directly related to AP and indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation of both Medium Increasing and High Decreasing trajectories. Agreeableness was directly negatively related to DP and indirectly throughout the mediation of High Decreasing trajectory. Low Conscientiousness was indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation of Medium Increasing trajectory.