RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Mental health literacy (MHL) is especially important for young people, but comprehensive studies on MHL in adolescents are limited, with no nationwide studies in Spain. This research aims to study MHL among Spanish adolescents and its relationship with sociodemographic factors. METHODS: An exploratory study is carried out using stratified random sampling in Spanish adolescents (N = 1000), aged 12-16 years and balanced in terms of gender, age and territorial distribution. Data collection took place in October and November 2023 through online surveys using the CAWI methodology. Sociodemographic variables, contact with mental health and the Spanish version of the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire (MHLq-E), a self-administered instrument of 32 Likert-type items (1-5) that assesses the dimensions of help-seeking skills, knowledge about causes and symptoms, and stigma, were evaluated. Descriptive and multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) were conducted. RESULTS: In general, adequate levels of literacy were observed, although some aspects related to help-seeking towards teachers, stigmatising attitudes towards people of low economic status and knowledge of severe mental health problems could be improved. The results show contact with previous mental health problems as a key variable for stigma and knowledge about symptomatology together with age. Likewise, gender and family educational level were found to be related to the ability to seek professional help. CONCLUSION: This study provides information on levels of MHL among Spanish adolescents and highlights significant socio-demographic variables. These findings pave the way for interventions aimed at improving adolescents' understanding, attitudes and skills to manage mental health problems, making possible to adapt content and focus on specific groups, thus increasing its effectiveness.
Assuntos
Letramento em Saúde , Saúde Mental , Humanos , Adolescente , Letramento em Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Masculino , Feminino , Espanha , Estudos Transversais , Criança , Inquéritos e Questionários , Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde , Estigma Social , Transtornos MentaisRESUMO
The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) is an assessment tool to evaluate cognitive emotion regulation strategies. The main objective of this study is to provide new empirical evidence about the validity and reliability of the CERQ via a sample of 271 Spanish adolescents (136 female, 135 male) aged from 15 to 18 years (M = 15.7, SD = 0.76). The analytical process was carried out in two phases. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the polychoric correlation matrix between items. Four possible alternative models were contrasted: two models with nine factors and two models with two second-order factors and nine first-order factors, with 36 and 27 items, respectively. The model with nine correlated factors and 27 items obtained the best indices of overall fit. Subsequently, the reliability of the measurements was estimated on this model. The results reaffirm the validity of the 27-item version of the CERQ over the original 36-item structure. The findings also confirm that the CERQ is a reliable instrument for the evaluation of emotion regulation strategies in adolescents.
Assuntos
Regulação Emocional , Adolescente , Cognição , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Psicometria , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Inquéritos e QuestionáriosRESUMO
Resumen La forma en la que las personas regulan sus emociones suele influir en la aparición, curso y desarrollo de un amplio espectro de psicopatologías. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el efecto del uso de las estrategias cognitivas de regulación emocional sobre el nivel de ansiedad de estudiantes de nivel secundario. Para ello se aplicó la adaptación al castellano del CER-Q y la adaptación española del STAI a una muestra de 266 estudiantes de nivel secundario. Se planteó un modelo de regresión lineal múltiple, donde el nivel de ansiedad fue la variable dependiente, y la frecuencia de uso de estrategias de regulación emocional fueron las variables independientes. El género también fue considerado una variable independiente puesto que los datos mostraron diferencias en el nivel de ansiedad y en el uso de estrategias de regulación emocional entre sujetos femeninos y masculinos. El modelo explicó un 46.3% de la varianza del nivel de ansiedad, y las variables que resultaron predictoras fueron autoculparse, reinterpretación positiva, catastrofización, rumiación y género. En función de los hallazgos y de la literatura previa, se apunta a la idea de que el uso de estrategias adaptativas de regulación emocional promueve menores niveles de ansiedad y el uso de estrategias desadaptativas redunda en mayores niveles de ansiedad.
Abstract The way in which people regulate their e motions is related to the appearance, course and development of a broad spectrum of psychopathologies. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the use of cognitive emotional regulation strategies on high school students' anxiety level. To this end, the Spanish adaptation of the CER-Q and the Spanish adaptation of the STAI were applied to a sample of 266 high school students. A multiple linear regression model was proposed, where anxiety level was the dependent variable, and the use frequencies of emotional regulation strategies were the independent variables. Gender was also considered as an independent variable since the data showed differences in anxiety level and in the use of emotional regulation strategies between male and female subjects. The model explained 46.3% of the variance, and the predictive variables were Self-blame, Positive Reinterpretation, Catastrophizing, Rumination and gender. Based on the findings and the previous literature, it is suggested that the use of adaptive strategies of emotional regulation promotes lower levels of anxiety, and the use of maladaptive strategies results in higher levels of anxiety.
