Barcaccia Barbara, Couyoumdjian Alessandro, Di Consiglio Micaela, Papa Carolina, Cancellieri Uberta Ganucci, Cervin Matti
Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Associazione di Psicologia Cognitiva APC and Scuola di Psicoterapia Cognitiva Srl SPC, Rome, Italy.
Front Psychol. 2023 Sep 27;14:1250279. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1250279. eCollection 2023.
Purpose in life, which is a central component of the eudaimonic paradigm of well-being, has been sparsely examined in adolescence. This is unfortunate as adolescence is characterised by identity development and is a key period for the onset of mental disorders. To inform future research on well-being and purpose in life in adolescents, we drew factors from several fields of research, including mental health and psychological factors, and explored which factors were most strongly associated with purpose in life. Data were collected in a sample of 444 Italian adolescents (M = 16.30 [SD = 1.50], range: 14 to 20 years; 58% girls) and associations with mental health (stress, anxiety, depression, anger), psychological traits (mindfulness, self-hate, self-inadequacy, self-reassurance, isolation), and sociodemographic variables (age, sex, place of birth) were examined. Regression, dominance, and network analyses indicated that a stronger sense of purpose in life was associated with lower depressive symptoms, higher levels of self-reassurance, and being born in Italy. Our findings suggest that purpose in life is an important asset for well-being in adolescents and may protect against depression. Future longitudinal and/or experimental research should examine the potential protective role of purpose in life in relation to adolescent depression and how self-reassurance and sociodemographic factors (e.g., immigrant background) are involved.
生活目的作为幸福的幸福主义范式的核心组成部分，在青少年时期很少受到研究。这很遗憾，因为青少年时期的特点是身份认同的发展，并且是精神障碍发病的关键时期。为了为未来关于青少年幸福和生活目的的研究提供信息，我们从包括心理健康和心理因素在内的几个研究领域中提取因素，并探讨哪些因素与生活目的最密切相关。在444名意大利青少年样本中收集了数据（M = 16.30 [标准差 = 1.50]，范围：14至20岁；58%为女孩），并研究了与心理健康（压力、焦虑、抑郁、愤怒）、心理特质（正念、自我厌恶、自我不足、自我安慰、孤独感）以及社会人口统计学变量（年龄、性别、出生地）的关联。回归分析、优势分析和网络分析表明，更强的生活目的感与较低的抑郁症状、更高水平的自我安慰以及出生在意大利有关。我们的研究结果表明，生活目的是青少年幸福的重要资产，可能预防抑郁。未来的纵向和/或实验研究应探讨生活目的对青少年抑郁的潜在保护作用，以及自我安慰和社会人口统计学因素（如移民背景）是如何起作用的。
