Negative life events and internalizing problems among Romanian youth

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 (R² = .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.

Indirect and direct associations between personality and psychological distress mediated by dispositional coping

The present study examines the association between coping and personality, by testing the hypothesis that dispositional coping mediates the relationship between personality and psychological distress. Canonical correlations evaluated the degree of the association among personality and coping dimensions in a community sample (N = 489) from Cyprus. Results partially support the hypothesized mediation model with Agreeableness predicting distress through the full mediation of avoidant coping, expression of negative feelings and active-positive coping. Partial mediation was found for Neuroticism and Openness. Canonical correlations deciphered how coping relates to the Big Five dimensions. Neuroticism was mostly associated with maladaptive coping, whereas Conscientiousness and Extraversion with adaptive coping.

A cross-cultural comparison of teacher ratings of child adjustment and behavioral problems

This study examines similarities and differences in teacher ratings of behavioral problems and adaptive skills between a sample of 320 students from Anguilla, BWI and 315 children from the United States of America using the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992 ). The study also compared teacher ratings of boys and girls in the Caribbean sample. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) revealed that Anguillian teachers rated their students as having higher mean school problems, while the mean score for adaptive skills was higher for US students. Effect sizes were small, though, indicating that little of the variance in ratings was attributable to cultural group. Boys in the Caribbean sample had significantly higher mean scores on externalizing and school problems. Girls were rated at having more adaptive skills. Again, effect sizes for the differences were small. Scientific and practice implications are offered.