Persistence in Focus
Persevering in One's Studies Despite COVID: Well-being, Depression and Perseverance View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Chantale Jeanrie, Maria Eduarda Soares, Joanna Krywalski Da Silveira Santiago
Most people’s lives, in every part of the world, have been impacted by COVID-19 in the last two years and students are among those who have been confronted to the most direct impacts (Unesco, 2021). They had to deal with major changes in their academic experience, going from a full presential situation to a full online one. Although these changes happened smoothly for some students, such was not the case for all of them. Some studies showed that academic, financial, social and psychological covid related stressors were related to either a significant decrease in well-being or the development of symptoms of depression (Chegg.org, 2021; Demarest et al, 2020; Halperin, Henderson, Prenner et Grauer, 2021; Network H.M., 2020). The objectives of this study are: 1- to analyse what factors, among different situational variables, are associated with difficulties related to well-being and depression and 2- to identify who were the students who showed higher tendencies towards perseverance. This study was conducted with university students at a university located in Quebec, Canada and in a university located in Lisbon, Portugal. Multiple regression analyses are used to identify the best predictors of students well-being, depression level and perseverance. Results are used to underline the variables that have a stronger impact on wellness and to propose interventions that can help universities to have a positive impact on students during a situation similar to the pandemic.
The Impact of the Developmental Trajectories of Gratitude on Adolescents’ Depression: The Mediation of Self-esteem View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Liuyue Huang
Gratitude, as an essential psychological resource for adolescents, contributes to their well-being. However, the exploration of gratitude development among early adolescents and its impact on mental health from a longitudinal perspective remains limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the developmental trajectories of gratitude on depression in adolescents and the role of self-esteem accounting for the influence. This study followed 660 junior high school students with three assessments in two years. The participants reported their levels of gratitude, self-esteem, and depression across three-time points. Results include: (1) The developmental trajectory of gratitude showed four heterogeneous groups in two years: “moderate gratitude lasting group” (34.0%), “high gratitude lasting group” (29.0%), “moderate gratitude improved group” (12.8%), and “high gratitude decline group” (24.2%); (2) Compared with the adolescents in the “moderate gratitude lasting group”, the depression scores of the adolescents in the “moderate gratitude improved group” and “high gratitude lasting group” were significantly lower in the last year of middle school; (3) With the “moderate gratitude lasting group” as the reference group, self-esteem significantly mediated the effects of the “moderate gratitude improved group” and the “high gratitude lasting group” on the depression of adolescents in the last year of middle school. Adolescent gratitude presented heterogeneous developmental trajectories. The types of developmental trajectories of gratitude affected depressive symptoms in junior high school adolescents, while self-esteem played a mediating role. Implications for improving adolescents' mental health from the findings of this study are discussed.
Featured Perceived Contextual Situations that Contribute to Adolescents’ Psychosocial Developmental Challenges View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Gift Khumalo
The period of adolescence is a developmental stage of complexities in personal growth, associated with life situations impacting transitions to young adulthood. The success with which adolescents manage their psychosocial transitions into young adulthood depends on their personal capabilities and life circumstances. Yet, contextual situations in adolescent development are under-explored, particularly in developing country settings. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, this study explores adolescents’ perceptions of their life situations in relation to their psychosocial developmental challenges. Respondents were 22 South African (Johannesburg) adolescents (Blacks=22; ages=15-19; males=8; females=14). They responded to the question: Why do you think you are experiencing psychosocial challenges at home and school? Results following thematic analysis identified the two following themes and subthemes: (1) home life situations (household financial difficulties; unfavourable living conditions; time-inflexible house chores; poor parent-child relationships; lack of support from families) (2) school life situations (peers' inappropriate behaviours; ineffective school leadership; teachers' low work enthusiasm; insufficient school resources; unsafe and unfavourable geographical conditions). The findings of the study suggest a need for intervention programmes at the school and community level to support adolescents negotiate their psychosocial developmental state. Counselling services and social skills training should be provided to adolescents to support their development. Additionally, the collaboration between the department of education, social development and health should be strengthened to deliver various psychosocial support at the school level.
Children's Self-сare Scale: Questionnaire Development and Its Psychometric Properties View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Oxana Mikhaylova, Ekaterina Serebrennaya, Polina Osipova, Evgenia Rybakova, Denis Popov, Anastasiya Bochkor, Maria Chepeleva
This study conveys the results of children's self-сare scale elaboration. Special attention is paid to health-related behaviors. The scale contains 11 items which refer to 3 blocks: maintaining, monitoring, and managing personal health conditions. The items are evaluated using an ordinal 5-point scale which reflects the child autonomy in self-care practices performance. Such a scale was essential to create since there was a lack of proposed scales in the scientific literature intended to measure health self-care practices among children with no diagnosed chronic illnesses. We share our experience of conceptualization and measurement of the children's self-care behaviors in the case of Russian parents. The study started in 2022 from Delphi groups with 8 experts on child development. After that, in the beginning of 2023 piloting with 10 cognitive interviews with parents was conducted. Now we are on the stage of data analysis and creation of the analogous scale for adolescents and youth for self-report. The study was funded by HSE University.
