Does emotional awareness lead to resilience? Differences based on sex in adolescence

Adolescence presents many challenges and changes, making the prevention of mental disorders significant. Resilience is considered a key factor in understanding the emotional development of adolescents, as it allows them to overcome adversity and learn to generate personal resources that promote their psychological well-being. Emotional awareness and emotional regulation are highlighted as protective factors against adversity. Emotional awareness refers to the ability to recognize, understand, and accept own and others' emotions. In contrast, emotional regulation involves controlling emotions and modifying behavior to achieve goals, adapt to the context, or promote well-being. Although it is known that these factors have an important effect on the resilience capacities of adolescents, few empirical studies analyze this relationship. This study aims to examine the effect of emotional awareness on resilience, as well as the possible mediation of emotional regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and suppression), and to consider possible sex differences in a sample of 376 Spanish adolescents. Statistical techniques such as T-Test, Pearson correlation, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were applied. Factorial invariance between groups was also examined, and a structural invariance analysis was performed. The results indicate that emotional awareness itself does not have a direct effect on the resilience of adolescents. In addition, there are sex differences in the impact of emotional awareness on regulation strategies. Therefore, it is necessary to consider Emotional awareness as a necessary condition for developing adaptive emotional regulation strategies as cognitive restructuring in the design of programs that contemplate the promotion of resilience in adolescents. (c) 2023 Universidad de Pais Vasco. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Adolescence presents challenges and changes, making the prevention of mental disorders significant. Resilience is key in understanding emotional development, and emotional awareness and regulation are protective factors. This study examines the effect of emotional awareness on resilience, as well as the mediation of regulation strategies and sex differences.