Malerba Anna, Iannattone Sara, Casano Giorgia, Lauriola Marco, Bottesi Gioia
Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Children (Basel). 2022 Oct 26;9(11):1631. doi: 10.3390/children9111631.
Abundant research indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has been negatively affecting mental health in adolescence. Few works, however, benefit from data from the same sample before and after the onset of the pandemic. The present longitudinal study involved a non-clinical group of 136 Italian adolescents (M = 16.3 years ± 1.08, 67% girls) to investigate their psychological response to the first lockdown and explore the role of a protective trait (i.e., Positivity) in moderating the effect of Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) on internalizing symptoms before and during the COVID-19 outbreak. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing psychopathological symptoms, psychological well-being, IU, and Positivity on three separate occasions: October 2019 (T1), January 2020 (T2), and April 2020 (T3). The results showed that internalizing and externalizing symptoms as well as psychological well-being did not vary significantly over time. Positivity was found to significantly moderate the relationship between IU and internalizing symptoms at T3 (i.e., during the COVID-19 lockdown) only. Overall, our findings suggest that the teenagers' good adjustment to the initial phase of the pandemic might have been associated with the enhanced weight of the Positivity trait, which may have encouraged a positive attitude towards self, life, and the future.
大量研究表明，新冠疫情对青少年的心理健康产生了负面影响。然而，很少有研究受益于疫情爆发前后来自同一样本的数据。本纵向研究涉及136名意大利青少年的非临床组（平均年龄M = 16.3岁±1.08，67%为女孩），以调查他们对首次封锁的心理反应，并探讨一种保护性特质（即积极心态）在缓和不确定性不耐受（IU）对新冠疫情爆发前及期间内化症状影响方面的作用。参与者在三个不同时间点完成了自我报告问卷，评估心理病理症状、心理健康、不确定性不耐受和积极心态：2019年10月（T1）、2020年1月（T2）和2020年4月（T3）。结果显示，内化和外化症状以及心理健康随时间没有显著变化。仅在T3（即新冠疫情封锁期间）发现积极心态显著缓和了不确定性不耐受与内化症状之间的关系。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，青少年对疫情初始阶段的良好适应可能与积极心态特质权重的增强有关，这可能鼓励了对自我、生活和未来的积极态度。
