Abstract
In line with the current psychological approach to health in general, mental health is perceived not only as the absence of psychopathological disorders, but also the presence of well-being. The study contributes to the identification of possible sources affecting mental health in adolescence. This cross-sectional study focuses on the role of personality traits, dispositional optimism, and perceived social support in predicting mental health in adolescence. Mental health was assessed using Mental Health Continuum, personality traits using Big Five Inventory, dispositional optimism using Life Orientation Test—Revised and social support by Close Relationships and Social Support Scale. The research sample consisted of 1,239 respondents aged 12 to 19 years (mean age 15.56 years), 54.3% females and 45.7 % males. Sequential regression analysis revealed that demographic variables and personality characteristics together explained 33.5% of mental health variance, the strongest predictors being extraversion and neuroticism. Including dispositional optimism and perceived social support resulted in a significant increase of the explained variance. All predictors together explained 46.0% of the mental health variance.
Highlights
Current Euro-American society places strong emphasis on health, supporting active health care and protecting all health components: ecological, biological, psychological, and social health (Ansseau et al, 2004)
It follows from the table that mental health is related to dispositional optimism (r = .51) and perceived social support (r = .49)
The predictors were entered in three blocks: the first block consisted of demographic variables; the second block consisted of the Big Five Inventory (BFI) dimensions; the third block contained variables reflecting the overall degree of dispositional optimism and social support
Summary
Current Euro-American society places strong emphasis on health, supporting active health care and protecting all health components: ecological, biological, psychological, and social health (Ansseau et al, 2004). Increased interest in mental health is driven by high prevalence of certain mental disorders, depressive, anxiety, and neurotic disorders, which among other things, leads to spiraling health care costs (Murray et al, 2012). In 2014, Baxter et al (2014) published a systematic overview of the scientific literature on the incidence of depressive and anxiety disorders. They suggest that there is a general increase in the psychological load in the contemporary achievementoriented world. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of clinical cases increased by 37%. The increase in the incidence of mental disorders is true for the Czech Republic as well (Dzurova et al, 2000)
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