Mental health variables and positive health practices in early adolescents.

A sample of 127 adolescents aged 12 to 14 years and attending a middle school responded to the Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire, the Depression-Dejection subscale of the Profile of Mood States, the Spielberger Trait-Anger Scale, and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale in classrooms. Using canonical variate analysis, three canonical variates emerged in the statistical analysis of the set of mental health variables and the set of positive health practice variables, two of which had statistically significant canonical correlations. The findings are consistent with theory and previous research linking positive health practices to depression, anger, and loneliness.

Outcomes of depression in early adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between depressed mood and depressive symptomatology and the influence of both variables on perceived social support, interpersonal conflict, general well-being, and perceived health status in 144 early adolescents. The subjects responded to instruments measuring the study variables in classroom settings. Two bivariate regression structural equation models were examined using the LISREL 7 computer software program. In the health model, depressed mood had a direct positive effect on depressive symptoms and a direct negative effect on well-being and on perceived health status. Depressive symptoms had a direct negative effect on well-being and on perceived health status. In the interpersonal model, depressed mood had a direct positive effect on depressive symptoms and on conflict and a direct negative effect on social support. Depressive symptoms had a direct positive effect on conflict and a direct negative effect on social support.

Social support and well-being in early adolescents: the role of mediating variables.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived social support and general well-being in early adolescents and to test two variables, hopefulness and self-esteem, that theoretically mediate this relationship. The final sample consisted of 142 adolescents, ages 12 to 14, who responded to instruments measuring perceived social support hopefulness, self-esteem, and general well-being in classroom settings. Correlational analysis supported the five hypothesized relationships. A series of regression analyses described by Baron and Kenny indicated that hopefulness and self-esteem each were mediators of the relationship between social support and well-being. Implications for nursing practice are addressed.

A causal model of depression in early adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to test the extent to which a causal model developed from a theoretical formulation of depression was consistent with data obtained from early adolescents, age 12 to 14. In this cross-sectional correlational design, the final sample consisted of 225 adolescents who responded to a demographic data sheet and instruments measuring depression, self-esteem, state anxiety, and perceived stress in classrooms. The causal model was tested via the LISREL 7 program, using a maximum likelihood structural equation model. The results yielded a chi-square (1, N = 225) = .71, p = .401, indicating a good fit of the model to the data. Perceived stress had the strongest direct, indirect, and total effect on depression in early adolescents. Contrary to expectation, self-esteem did not have a direct effect on depression, and girls did not report higher levels of depression than did boys.

Future time perspective and positive health practices among young adolescents: a further extension.

A sample of 139 young adolescents attending a middle school responded to the Future Time Perspective Inventory and the Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire in classrooms. A statistically significant correlation of .46 was found between their scores on future time perspective and ratings for the practice of positive health behaviors. This correlation was larger than those previously reported for middle and late adolescents but smaller than that found for young adults.

Positive and negative outcomes of anger in early adolescents.

The purposes of this study were to examine symptom patterns and diminished general well-being as negative outcomes and vigor and change as positive outcomes of trait and state anger via two structural equation models. In a school auditorium, a convenience sample of 141 boys and girls, ages 12-14 years, responded to the Trait Anger Scale and the State Anger Scale and to instruments measuring general well-being, symptom patterns, vigor, and change. In the negative outcome model, results indicated that diminished general well-being and increased symptom patterns were outcomes of trait anger and state anger in early adolescents. In the positive outcome model, contrary to expectation, less vigor and less inclination to change were outcomes of trait anger in early adolescents, while state anger had no appreciable influence on the same variables. The findings suggest that anger, particularly trait anger, had a negative influence on the outcome variables studied.

An empirical test of alternate theories of anger in early adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Anger is an especially important phenomenon to understand in early adolescents. While many explanatory theories of state anger can be applied to early adolescents, few, if any, researchers have attempted to test these theories in this age group. OBJECTIVE: To test three theories explaining state anger vis-a-vis each other using hierarchical analysis of sets. METHOD: This was a theory-testing study with a complex correlational design. A total of 141 adolescents aged 12 to 14 years responded to the State Anger Scale and instruments measuring variables linked to stress theory (perceived stress and primary appraisal), differential emotion theory (depression and state anxiety), and trait theory (trait anger and hostility), that were randomly ordered across instrument packets. RESULTS: Using hierarchical analysis of sets, the results indicated that the sets of variables used to test all three theories explained a statistically significant proportion of variance in state anger when entered first in the analysis. Comparatively, the trait theory variables explained more variance in state anger when entered first (41%) in the analysis than did the emotion theory variables when entered first (31%) in the analysis or the stress theory variables when entered first (21%) in the analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The stress theory, the differential emotion theory, and the trait theory all provided theoretically sound and relevant explanations of state anger for early adolescents. However, the trait theory provided the most powerful explanation.

The moderator-mediator role of social support in early adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to examine social support as both a mediator and a moderator of the relationship between perceived stress and symptom patterns in early adolescents. Data were collected from 148 early adolescent boys and girls, ages 12 to 14, who responded to the Perceived Stress Scale, the Personal Resource Questionnaire 85-Part II, and the Symptom Pattern Scale. Using multiple regression analysis procedures specified for the testing of moderation and mediation, results indicated that social support did not play a moderating role in the relationship between perceived stress and symptom patterns, but social support did play a mediating role in this relationship. The findings are interpreted within the two major theoretical orientations that guided the study.

Social support and positive health practices in young adults. Loneliness as a mediating variable.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which loneliness mediates the relationship between perceived social support and positive health practices of young adults, ages 22 to 34, by testing a mediational model of relationships in a three-variable system developed through theory and previous research. Data were collected from 70 young adults who were attending classes in a large urban university. They responded to the PRQ85-Part II, the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Lifestyle Questionnaire, and a demographic data sheet. Statistically significant correlations were found between perceived social support and positive health practices, perceived social support and loneliness, and loneliness and positive health practices. A series of regression analyses designed to test for mediation were performed. The results indicated that loneliness is a dominant mediator in the relationship between perceived social support and positive health practice. Implications for practices are discussed.

A study of introspectiveness in adolescents and young adults.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between introspectiveness and the theoretically related variables of close friend solidarity, self-esteem, and symptom patterns in early, middle, and late adolescents, as well as in young adults. Samples of early (n = 103), middle (n = 107), and late adolescents (n = 101) as well as young adults (n = 70) completed the Introspectiveness Scale, the Close Friend Solidarity Instrument, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Symptom Pattern Scale in classroom settings. Hypotheses were tested using Pearson correlations, with a one-tailed test of significance. Introspectiveness was statistically, significantly, and positively related to close friend solidarity in all adolescents but not in young adults; introspectiveness was statistically, significantly, and inversely related to self-esteem in all adolescents but not in young adults. Finally, introspectiveness was statistically, significantly, and positively related to symptom patterns in all adolescents and in young adults.

Loneliness and health-related variables in young adults.

In classrooms, 69 young adults responded to the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Symptom Pattern Scale, and the General Health Rating Index, a measure of perceived health status. A statistically significant positive correlation of .21 was found between scores for loneliness and ratings for symptom patterns. A statistically inverse correlation of -.35 was found between scores for loneliness and ratings for perceived health status. These findings replicated those found earlier with adolescents.

Future time perspective and positive health practices in young adults: an extension.

A sample of 69 young adults attending a public university responded to the Future Time Perspective Inventory, two subscales of the Time Experience Scales (Fast and Slow Tempo), and the Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire in classroom settings. A statistically significant correlation (.52) was found between scores for future time perspective and the ratings for the practice of positive health behaviors in young adults. This correlation was larger than those previously found for middle and late adolescents. Scores on subscales of individual health practices and future time perspective indicated statistically significant correlations for five (.25 to .56) of the six subscales. Scores on neither Fast nor Slow Tempo were related to ratings of positive health practices or ratings on subscales measuring positive health practices.

Alternate models of positive health practices in adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test two alternate causal models of positive health practices in adolescents, which built on a modification of the original theoretical formulation previously tested in adolescents by Yarcheski and Mahon (1989). The sample consisted of 202 adolescents, aged 15 to 21. In classroom settings they responded to instruments and a demographic data sheet measuring variables in both models (age, gender, self-esteem, social support, and positive health practices), and to additional variables in Model 1 (future time perspective) and Model 2 (perceived health status). Both causal models were tested by the LISREL 7 program. By all indicators used in the study, there was a very good fit of both models with their data, there were no specification errors in either model, and neither model required modification. Visual inspection of the indicators suggested that Model 1 had a slightly better fit than did Model 2 with their respective data. These results suggested that causal models explaining positive health practices should include endogenous variables that share a common orientation, such as those with a psychosocial focus versus those with a health-related focus.

Loneliness and creativity in adolescents.

Samples of 107 early, 81 middle, and 112 late adolescents responded to the UCLA Loneliness Scale and The Creativity Scale of the Adjective Check List. Contrary to the hypothesized direction, statistically significant inverse correlations (-.19 to -.33) were found between scores on measures of loneliness and creativity in all three adolescent samples. Findings are interpreted within the conceptualizations in which the relationship between loneliness and creativity were proposed.

Roger's pattern manifestations and health in adolescents.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine four manifestations of human-environmental field patterning--human field motion, human field rhythms, creativity, and sentience--in relation to perceived health status in 106 early, 111 middle, and 113 late adolescents. Participants responded to the Perceived Field Motion Instrument (a measure of human field motion), the Human Field Rhythms Scale, the Sentience Scale, the General Health Rating Index (a measure of perceived health status), and a brief demographic data sheet in classroom settings. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlations. Statistically significant positive correlations were found between perceived field motion and perceived health status in early, middle, and late adolescents, between human field rhythms and perceived health status in late adolescents only, and between creativity and perceived health status in late adolescents only. The inverse relationship found between sentience and perceived health status in early, middle, and late adolescents was not statistically significant. The findings are interpreted within a Rogerian framework.

Validation of the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale for adolescents.

The purposes of this study were to determine the dimensionality of the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale for adolescents through factor-analytic techniques, and to provide construct validity for the instrument by testing four theoretically derived hypotheses in 333 adolescents, ages 12 to 21. Using a prior criteria, a two-factor structure, resulting from a principal components analysis with an orthogonal rotation, best represented the dimensionality of the instrument for adolescents. The two factors demonstrated acceptable coefficient alpha reliabilities. Evidence of construct validity for the total scale was provided by three statistically significant correlations found between the scale and the theoretically relevant variables of future time perspective, close friend solidarity, and dependency. Contrary to expectation, slow tempo was not appreciably related to loneliness. The results support the use of the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale in future research concerning loneliness in adolescents.

The contributions of sleep to perceived health status during adolescence.

The purposes of this correlational study were to examine the relationships of three dimensions of sleep quality (sleep disturbance, sleep effectiveness, and sleep supplementation) and sleep quantity (the amount of sleep obtained per day) to perceived health status in early, middle, and late adolescents. The samples consisted of 106 early adolescents (aged 12 to 14), 111 middle adolescents (aged 15 to 17), and 113 late adolescents (aged 18 to 21). In classroom settings, all subjects completed the VSH Sleep Scale, which measures sleep disturbance, sleep effectiveness, and sleep supplementation (the amount of sleep per day was calculated from two items on the scale); the General Health Rating Index, which measures perceived health status; and a demographic data sheet. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients between the sleep variables and perceived health status were not statistically significant for early and late adolescents. For middle adolescents, however, the correlations between sleep disturbance and perceived health status, between sleep effectiveness and perceived health status, and between amount of sleep per day and perceived health status were statistically significant, but the correlation between sleep supplementation and perceived health status was not. A post hoc regression analysis indicated that the sleep variables explained a small, but statistically significant, amount of variance in perceived health status for middle adolescents. Findings are discussed in light of theories guiding the study, and implications for nursing practice are addressed.

A study of sleep during adolescence.

The purpose of this comparative study was to examine differences in sleep disturbance, sleep effectiveness, and sleep supplementation, as measured by the Verran/Snyder-Halpern (VSH) Sleep Scale, according to phase of adolescence as determined by chronological age and gender. Data were collected from 116 early, 116 middle, and 116 late adolescent boys and girls in classroom settings. Two-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to analyze the data. Three statistically significant findings emerged in the analyses. First, middle adolescents had the highest level of sleep disturbance among the three groups, which was statistically significantly higher than that found in late adolescents. Second, adolescent girls reported less sleep effectiveness than adolescent boys. Third, when the amount of sleep per day was analyzed, findings indicated that adolescent boys slept more than adolescent girls. The discussion of the findings includes implications for nursing research and practice.

Differences in social support and loneliness in adolescents according to developmental stage and gender.

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in both perceived social support and loneliness according to the three stages of adolescent development (early, middle, and late), as determined by chronological age and gender. The sample consisted of 113 early adolescents, 106 middle adolescents, and 106 late adolescents. Data were collected in classroom settings. All participants responded to the PRQ85--Part II, A Social Support Measure; the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale; and a demographic data sheet. Results of the study, which used the two-way analysis of variance, indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in perceived social support or loneliness across the three stages of adolescence. Findings also indicated that girls reported statistically significantly higher levels of perceived social support than boys; however, there were no statistically significant gender differences in loneliness.

Social support and well-being in adolescents: the mediating role of hopefulness.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which hopefulness mediates the relationship between perceived social support and general well-being in midadolescents. The sample consisted of 99 high school students, aged 15 to 17, all of whom completed the Personal Resource Questionnaire (PRQ85-Part II), a social support measure, the Hopefulness Scale for Adolescents, and the Adolescent General Well-Being Questionnaire in classroom settings. Statistically significant positive correlations were found between perceived social support and general well-being, perceived social support and hopefulness, and hopefulness and general well-being. Hopefulness was a potent mediator in the relationship between perceived social support and general well-being in midadolescents.