Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Apr 23;15(5):567.
doi: 10.3390/bs15050567.

Associations Between Emotional Resilience and Mental Health Among Chinese Adolescents in the School Context: The Mediating Role of Positive Emotions

Zhongmin Zhu  1   2 , Biao Sang  1   2 , Junsheng Liu  3 , Yuyang Zhao  4 , Ying Liu  5
Affiliations

Associations Between Emotional Resilience and Mental Health Among Chinese Adolescents in the School Context: The Mediating Role of Positive Emotions

Zhongmin Zhu et al. Behav Sci (Basel). .

Abstract

Positive emotions play an essential role in adolescent resilience and mental healthy development, yet whether it affects emotional resilience, mental health, and the internal mechanism remains unknown. Therefore, the current study aims to, using a two-wave panel design, examine the relationship between emotional resilience and mental health, as well as the mediating role of positive emotion. We conducted this longitudinal study in two waves with a 6-month interval, surveyed 266 Chinese adolescents (54.9% boys, Mage = 14.11 years, SD = 1.77), and constructed a mediation model. The participants completed the measures of demographic information, positive emotions, emotional resilience, and mental health at two times. The results revealed that after controlling for gender and age, Time 2 positive emotions partially mediated the relationship between Time 1 emotional resilience and Time 2 mental health. In detail, emotional resilience is positively correlated with life satisfaction and self-esteem. It shows a negative correlation with symptoms of depression and anxiety, partly mediated by positive emotions. The findings highlighted the role of emotional resilience in mitigating psychological problems and enhancing mental health in Chinese adolescents. The implications and limitations were discussed.

Keywords: adolescents; emotional resilience; mental health; positive emotions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The mediating model of positive emotion on the relationship between emotional resilience and mental health. Note. *** p < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aguirre Velasco A., Cruz I. S. S., Billings J., Jimenez M., Rowe S. What are the barriers, facilitators and interventions targeting help-seeking behaviours for common mental health problems in adolescents? A systematic review. BMC Psychiatry. 2020;20:1–22. doi: 10.1186/s12888-020-02659-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alexander R., Aragón O. R., Bookwala J., Cherbuin N., Gatt J. M., Kahrilas I. J., Kästner N., Lawrence A., Lowe L., Morrison R. G., Mueller S. C., Nusslock R., Papadelis C., Polnaszek K. L., Helene Richter S., Silton R. L., Styliadis C. The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: Implications for cultivating happiness and wellbeing. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 2021;121:220–249. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.002. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anderson K., Priebe S. Concepts of resilience in adolescent mental health research. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2021;69(5):689–695. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.03.035. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Arslan G., Allen K. A. Complete mental health in elementary school children: Understanding youth school functioning and adjustment. Current Psychology. 2022;41:1174–1183. doi: 10.1007/s12144-020-00628-0. - DOI
    1. Arslan G., Renshaw T. L. Student subjective wellbeing as a predictor of adolescent problem behaviors: A comparison of first-order and second-order factor effects. Child Indicators Research. 2018;11:507–521. doi: 10.1007/s12187-017-9444-0. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources