Abstract

Stress impacts all individuals during each developmental period of their lives. Stress has been linked to various physical and mental health outcomes across the lifespan. However, adolescence may prove to be a unique time to examine stress and its potential effects on various health outcomes, as well as possible mediating or moderating factors. The purpose of this study is to examine the link between stress and body mass index (BMI) percentile while incorporating the potential mediators of anxiety, depression, and externalizing behaviors as well as the moderators of social support and self-regulation. Using a sample of 500 adolescents living in the Pacific Northwest, moderated mediation SEM models were estimated to test for these relationships. The full mediation model was selected, which included only indirect paths from predictors to the outcome through the mediators. Daily hassles was a significant positive predictor of depression and externalizing behavior, while family chaos was a significant positive predictor only for externalizing behavior. None of the three mediators significantly predicted BMI. When the moderators were added, two significant interactions were found between family chaos and parent social support for anxiety and externalizing behavior with another significant interaction found between family chaos and peer social support for depression. Specifically, the positive link between family chaos and these three mediators was weaker at higher levels of parent and peer social support. Thus, parent and peer social support may buffer the effect of familial stress on mental health. Future research can examine these relationships, as well as other potential moderators between stress and health outcomes during adolescence.

Degree

PhD

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Psychology

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2023-04-13

Document Type

Dissertation

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd12693

Keywords

stress, adolescence, anxiety, depression, externalizing behavior, social support, self-regulation

Language

english

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