Citation

Wang D, Chen XY, Zhai S, Fan F. J. Adolesc. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1002/jad.12070

PMID

35790008

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents are susceptible to exhibiting internalizing and externalizing symptoms following natural disasters. However, little is known regarding factors that may influence these symptoms from the perspective of positive psychology. The current study examined whether and how social support and resilience mediated the association between gratitude and adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

METHOD: The participants were 765 Chinese adolescents exposed to the Wenchuan earthquake (41.8% male, mean age 17.46 years), who were enrolled in a three-wave longitudinal study with data spanning 1 year. All adolescents completed self-report questionnaires on gratitude at 18 months postearthquake (T(18m) ), social support and resilience at 24 months (T(24m) ), and internalizing and externalizing symptoms at 18 months (T(18m) ) and 30 months (T(30m) ).

RESULTS: The results showed that social support (T(24m) ) and resilience (T(24m) ) serially mediate the relationship between gratitude (T(18m) ) and internalizing (β = -.003, 95% confidence interval [CI]= -0.006, -0.001) or externalizing (T(30m) ) symptoms (β = -.004, 95% CI= -0.004, -0.001). Social support (T(24m) ) acts as a mediator only between gratitude (T(18m) ) and internalizing symptoms (T(30m) ) (β = -.021, 95% CI = -0.044, -0.004), while not being a significant predictor for externalizing symptoms (T(30m) ).

CONCLUSION: By highlighting the mechanisms by which gratitude longitudinally attenuates adolescents' internalizing, externalizing, and total symptoms, our findings may provide clinical practitioners with important information regarding intervention design.

Language: en

Keywords

resilience; social support; internalizing symptoms; externalizing symptoms; gratitude