engleski

Towards a better understanding of youth well-being and depression by using the to-factor model of mental health

Mental health needs to be considered as consisting of both the presence of positive resources, and absence of mental illness. The following study aimed to test the dual factor model of mental health, determined by the levels of positive resources, here reflected by well-being, and absence of mental illness, here reflected by depression symptoms, as well as potential predictors of categorization of youth in the four categories hypothesised by the model: high well- being and high depression, low well-being and low depression, high well-being and low depression, and low well-being and high depression. Well-being and depression were measured using self-reports of 728 Croatian youths, where all of these were in school ; 424 upper secondary school students, and 304 university students. The study also measured underlying variables that can predict youth mental health: gender, educational stage (secondary school students vs. university students), academic performance, and parents' educational level. The research questions were assessed using correlation, multiple hierarchical regression, and multinomial logistic regression. Gender, students' educational stage, and grades were shown to be significant predictors of depression symptoms, and gender was a significant predictor of well-being. The study confirmed a dual factor model among youth, where gender, educational stage, and grades were found to predict categorization of mental health. That shows that the complexity of the concept of mental health should be considered when measuring this concept. These findings reinforce the importance of factors in the school environment for youth mental health. Implications and interpretations of these findings will be discussed.

dual factor model of mental health, well-being, depression, youth, , academic performance

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