Negative life events and internalizing problems among Romanian youth

2021 ◽  
pp. 135910452110556
Author(s):  
Emanuel Adrian Sârbu ◽  
Mihai-Bogdan Iovu ◽  
Florin Lazăr

During adolescence individuals face multiple stressful events, but it is not clear how these impact adolescents’ adjustment and what factors buffer their negative effects. The present exploratory study investigates the relationship between frequency, proximity, and intensity of negative life events and occurrence of internalizing symptoms in a sample of Romanian adolescents. 2690 youth aged 15–16 from capital city of Romania filled in a series of measures from Youth in Europe Study. Hierarchical regression was employed to test for the explanatory value of individual (gender and family status), relational (parents and peer support), and negative life events on depressive and anxiety symptoms. Frequency and proximity of negative life events explained 35.8% in the displaying of depressive symptoms. After controlling for individual and relational variables, occurrence, proximity, and intensity of negative life events significantly contributed to explaining heightened anxiety symptoms ( R 2 = .246). Adolescents reporting more frequent, earlier in time and more intensive negative events also reported more depressive and anxiety symptoms, thus, supporting the relationship between occurrence of adversities and negative mental health outcomes.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianghui Zhang ◽  
Songmei Wang ◽  
Xiaoyu Han ◽  
Chuanzhi Xu ◽  
Ying Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective Life events and social capital can affect one’s quality of life. Stress buffering theory holds that social capital can buffer the negative effects of life events. A conceptual model based on stress buffering theory was proposed to test whether social capital played a mediating role in the relationship between life events and quality of life among adults in Yunnan, China. Methods This study was based on baseline survey data from the Yunnan Cohort in the Chinese Multi-ethnic Cohort (CMEC). A total of 22881 adults were recruited by multistage stratified cluster sampling. A structured questionnaire was used to collect participants’ information, including general demographic characteristics and life events. A self-developed ultra-brief social capital scale was utilized to assess the participants’ social capital and the EQ-5D-5L scale was used to measure their quality of life. Correlation coefficients were used to analyze the relationships among life events, social capital and quality of life, and structural equation models were used to evaluate whether social capital had a mediating effect on the relationship between negative life events and quality of life. Results Social capital had a direct positive effect on quality of life (β = 0.108, 95% CI [0.089, 0.128]). Life events not only directly affected quality of life (β= -0.117, 95% CI [-0.135, -0.099]) but also indirectly negatively affected quality of life through social capital (β= -0.018, 95% CI [-0.022, -0.014]). The results showed that social capital had a mediating effect on the relationship between negative life events and quality of life. Conclusion Social capital played an important mediating role in the relationship between life events and quality of life, and social capital alleviated the negative effects of life events. Providing better social capital for adults experiencing negative life events could effectively improve their quality of life.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 437-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Broeren ◽  
Carol Newall ◽  
Helen F. Dodd ◽  
Ruth Locker ◽  
Jennifer L. Hudson

AbstractThe current study investigated the longitudinal relationships among behavioral inhibition (BI), life events, and anxiety in a sample of 102 BI children and 100 behaviorally uninhibited (BUI) children aged 3 to 4 years. Children's parents completed questionnaires on BI, stressful life events, and anxiety symptoms, and were administered a diagnostic interview three times in a 5-year period. In line with our hypotheses, negative life events, particularly negative behavior-dependent life events (i.e., life events that are related to the children's own behaviors), and the impact of negative life events were predictive of increases in subsequent anxiety symptoms, the likelihood of having an anxiety disorder, and increased number of anxiety diagnoses over the 5-year follow-up period. Experiencing more positive, behavior-independent life events decreased the risk of being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Furthermore, differences were found in life events between BI and BUI children. That is, BI children experienced fewer positive and specifically positive behavior-dependent life events, and the impact of these positive life events was also lower in BI children than in BUI children. However, BI did not interact with life events in the prediction of anxiety problems as hypothesized. Therefore, this study seems to indicate that BI and life events act as additive risk factors in the development of anxiety problems.


2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 602-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben C. P. Lam ◽  
Michael Harris Bond ◽  
Sylvia Xiaohua Chen ◽  
Wesley C. H. Wu

Research investigating the role of generalized beliefs about the world or worldviews is relatively scarce in the suicide literature. Two studies, using Hong Kong Chinese samples, examined how worldviews, as assessed by the Social Axioms Survey (SAS), were linked with individual vulnerability to suicide. In Study 1, we investigated the relationships of social axioms with various suicide indicators in cognitive, emotional and interpersonal domains, viz., suicidal ideation, negative self–esteem, psychache, burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. Results from canonical correlation analysis showed that beliefs along the axiom dimensions of social cynicism, reward for application, and social complexity were linked to these suicide indicators. In Study 2, we tested the interplay of worldviews and personality traits in the prediction of suicidal thoughts. Hierarchical regression results demonstrated the predictive power of social axioms over and above that provided by the Big Five personality dimensions. Moreover, a significant interaction was observed between belief in reward for application and negative life events in predicting suicidal ideation, showing that reward for application buffered the effect of negative life events on suicidal ideation. Based on these results, we discussed the significance of worldviews as a consideration in suicide research and their implications for clinical assessment and intervention. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-479
Author(s):  
Guo Qiuyun ◽  
Wenxing Liu ◽  
Kong Zhou ◽  
Jianghua Mao

PurposeThe authors examined the relationship between leader humility and employee organizational deviance. They also tested the mediating effects of personal sense of power and the moderating effects of organizational identification on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe authors tested their hypotheses using a sample of 186 employees from an information technology (IT) enterprise in China. They used hierarchical regression and bootstrapping analyses to test for direct and indirect relationships.FindingsSense of power mediated the effect of leader humility on organizational deviance and organizational identification moderated the effect of sense of power on organizational deviance. In addition, organizational identification mediated the indirect effect of leader humility on organizational deviance via sense of power. Thus, employees who demonstrate high organizational identification may not conduct organizational deviant behavior, even if they have a high sense of power.Practical implicationsOrganizations should explore and practice effective leader humility. Selection and training programs should be developed to choose humble leaders and teach them how to exhibit moderate humility.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to the literature by revealing the negative effects of leader humility in Chinese culture. They find support for their hypotheses that employee sense of power mediates the relationship between leader humility and employee organizational deviance and that this relationship is weaker when employee organizational identification is higher. This clarifies how and why leader humility stimulates employee organizational deviance.


1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Damphousse ◽  
Howard B. Kaplan

The self-medication hypothesis suggests that individuals who experience high levels of psychological distress use drugs to relieve their pain. The extent to which this is the case (and to which people do feel better after using drugs) has had mixed support in the literature. The present analysis uses structural equation modeling of longitudinal data to explore how deviant disposition, deviant peers, and negative life events act as intervening variables in the hypothesized relationship between psychological distress and adolescent drug use. The results suggest that deviant disposition and association with deviant peers mediate the relationship between antecedent psychological distress and later drug use. Similarly, negative life events mediate the relationship between adolescent drug use and adult psychological distress.


2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Chan ◽  
Regina Miranda ◽  
Katherine Surrence

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1319-1330 ◽  
Author(s):  
DEBRA L. FRANKO ◽  
RUTH H. STRIEGEL-MOORE ◽  
KATHLEEN M. BROWN ◽  
BRUCE A. BARTON ◽  
ROBERT P. McMAHON ◽  
...  

Background. Little is known about the extent to which negative life events predict depressive symptoms in ethnically diverse groups or whether this relationship is proximal or enduring.Method. The relationship between negative life events in adolescence and depressive symptoms in young adulthood was studied in a sample of over 1300 black and white female adolescents. Five domains of life events were assessed at age 16 years and depressive symptoms were measured at age 18 and again at age 21 years. Questions of interest included whether the association continued over time and whether there were specific domains of life events that predicted symptoms better than others.Results. The total number of negative life events at time 1 predicted depressive symptoms at both time 2 and time 3. Interpersonal loss events and other adversities, however, predicted depressive symptoms only at time 2, whereas at time 3, only interpersonal trauma was a significant predictor. No ethnic differences were found, indicating that the relationship between life events and depressive symptoms appears to be similar for black and white adolescent girls.Conclusions. The results suggest that negative life events and some specific type of stressors increase the likelihood of the onset of depression symptoms in future years, for both black and white girls. Early preventive efforts should be directed at adolescents who experience loss due to death of a significant other, traumatic events, and psychosocial adversities to forestall the development of depressive symptoms.


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