The Role of Developmental Assets in Gender Differences in Anxiety in Spanish Youth

Dados Bibliográficos

ID15519013
AutoresDiego Gómez-Baya (0000-0003-4651-0439, Universidad de Huelva, autor correspondente), José A Salinas-Pérez (0000-0001-8533-9342, Universidad Loyola Andalucía), Álvaro Sánchez-López (0000-0003-2815-7803, Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Susana Paíno-Quesada (0000-0003-1702-2452, Universidad de Huelva), Ramón Mendoza Berjano (0000-0002-5868-4850, Universidad de Huelva), Ramon Mendoza-Berjano
Ano2022
Volume13
Páginas810326-810326
Data de publicação2022-04-25
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoFrontiers in Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1664-0640 • E-ISSN: 1664-0640
EditoraFrontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpsyt.2022.810326
PMID35546952
OpenAlexW4224315389
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas84

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychological disorders during emerging adulthood. Some consistent gender differences have been reported in anxiety with women suffering more anxiety than men, which has detrimental consequences in most life spheres in the youth and later life stages. The understanding of the development of anxiety in emerging adulthood requires a developmental perspective. The Developmental Assets Theory was postulated to describe the individual and the contextual resources which may foster positive youth development and mental health. The present study aims to analyze to what extent the gender differences in anxiety may be partly explained by gender differences in developmental assets. For this purpose, a cross-sectional study was conducted in which a sample of 1,044 youths (75.5% women; age range = 18-28; M age = 20.47, SD = 3.08) enrolled in 11 universities from different regions in Spain filled in self-report measures of developmental assets and anxiety symptoms. The participants completed an online survey with the scales, Developmental Assets Profile developed by the Search Institute (1) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) (2). The results showed more anxiety in the female subsample (at both the symptoms and clinical levels). Some gender differences in developmental assets were also observed. A partial mediation model, based on regression analyses, indicated that gender differences in anxiety were partly explained by gender differences in developmental assets. Thus, higher anxiety in the women was partly due to lower scores in positive identity and higher scores in positive values. These results suggested the need to design programs to prevent anxiety with specific measures for women youth to nurture positive identity and promote strengths and coping skills that allow them to get the benefits of well-being derived from positive values, thus, preventing worry and stress overload, which may lead to anxiety

Anxiety · Developmental psychology · Mediation · Mental health · Psychiatry · Young adult · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Early Childhood Education and Development · Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research · Psychology