Person-related protective and vulnerability factors of psychopathology symptoms in non-clinical adolescents.
Psychopathology in youths is thought to originate from a dynamic interplay of a variety of protective and vulnerability factors. In this study, a large multi-ethnic sample of non-clinical adolescents (N = 376) completed questionnaires for measuring a wide range of person-related protective and vulnerability factors as well as psychopathology symptoms, in order to explore (a) the relations among various protective and vulnerability factors, and (b) the unique contributions of these protective and vulnerability factors to different types of psychological problems. Results indicated that the overlap among protective and vulnerability factors was quite modest. Further, it was found that factors clustered in theoretically meaningful components reflecting protection, vulnerability, and more specific aspects of coping and social support. Finally, data indicated that each type of psychopathology symptoms was associated with a typical set of protective and vulnerability factors. Although these results should be interpreted with caution because of the cross-sectional nature of the study, they may nevertheless guide future research exploring multifactorial models of psychopathology in youths.
Muris
Peter
P
Institute of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. muris@fsw.eur.nl
Mayer
Birgit
B
Reinders
Eva
E
Wesenhagen
Chériva
C
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010556:Personality Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D011599:Psychopathology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000523:psychology*