The presence of meaning in life and character strengths as protective factors of anxious-depressive symptoms in adolescents from Spain and Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

The presence of meaning in life (MiL) and character strengths (CS) are protective factors for adolescents’ mental health. The main objective of the present study was to explore transculturally the relationship between MiL and CS with anxiety and depression in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic among adolescents. Adolescents (N = 577) aged 14 to 18 (319 Russians and 258 Spaniards) completed online questionnaires during the pandemic. The results showed that in both samples, zest, gratitude, and love were the most robust predictors of depression symptoms; zest, hope, and love in girls, and self-regulation, hope, and presence of MiL in boys more robustly predicted anxiety symptoms. The findings provide data on the resilience function of CS and the presence of MiL during the COVID-19 pandemic and have important preventive practical implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Meaning in life
• character strengths
• anxiety
• depression
• adolescents

Acknowledgments

We thank the schools participating in this study and the adolescents answering the questionnaires. Also, we express our gratitude to the International University Center for Europe and Central Asia (CUNEAC) of the Vice-Rectorate for Internalization of the University of Cádiz (UCA) and the Education Attaché Office of the Embassy of Spain in Russia (Ministry of Education and Professional Training of Spain for their help in data collection in Russia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).