Environmental Influences on Teenagers' Mental Health: The Mediating Roles of Resilience and Self-Efficacy
Abstract
This cross-sectional study examined the impacts of family, school, and societal environments on teenagers' mental health among 384 junior high school students in Heze City, China, with resilience and self-efficacy as independent and serial mediators. Data were collected using six validated self-report scales via an online WeChat questionnaire and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results showed that school environment and societal environment had significant direct effects on mental health, whereas family environment had no significant direct effect. Resilience and self-efficacy independently mediated the associations between all three environmental domains and mental health. Serial mediation was confirmed: school and societal environments influenced mental health sequentially through resilience and then self-efficacy. The overall model explained 35.8% of the variance in mental health. These findings support social cognitive theory and resilience theory and provide empirical evidence for promoting teenagers' mental health via environmental improvement and psychological strength training.
Downloads
References
Bandura, A. (2020). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 12(3), 313–328. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.23964
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (2006). The bioecological model of human development. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 1. Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., pp. 793–828). Wiley.
China Daily. (2025, December 3). Life pressures put Chinese youth at risk of mental illness. China Daily. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202512/03/WS692fa465a310d6866eb2ca6e.html
Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185
Hair, J. F., Jr., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2021). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (3rd ed.). SAGE.
Hu, X., Li, Y., Zhang, L., & Wang, H. (2025). Social support and self-efficacy during early adolescence: Dual impact of protective and promotive links to mental health and wellbeing. PLOS Global Public Health, 5(1), e0003904. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0003904
Nagata, J. M., Jerrentrup, A., & Wilson, M. (2024). Screen time and mental health: A prospective analysis of the adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 2686. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20102-x
Wang, J., Yang, Q., Yu, X., & Hu, L. (2024). Effects of adolescent empathy on emotional resilience: the mediating role of depression and self-efficacy and the moderating effect of social activities. Behavioral Sciences, 14(3), 228. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14030228
Li, W., & Gao, F. (2020). Mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 277, 111–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.06.021
Lienart, G. H., & Van der Velden, P. (2023). Environmental stressors and adolescent coping: The role of resilience and self-efficacy. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 89, 102145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102145
Lovibond, S. H., & Lovibond, P. F. (1995). Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). Psychology Foundation of Australia.
Masten, A. S. (2024). Resilience in development: Multisystem perspectives. Development and Psychopathology, 36(4), 2542–2550. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579424000154
Smith, B. W., Dalen, J., Wiggins, K., Tooley, E., Christopher, P., & Bernard, J. (2008). The Brief Resilience Scale: Assessing the ability to bounce back. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15(3), 194–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705500802222972
The Lancet Regional Health–Western Pacific. (2025). Prevalence of mental disorders among Chinese children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Regional Health–Western Pacific, 52, 100689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2025.100689
Wang, C., Liu, Y., & Chen, H. (2025). Seasonal variation and social determinants of adolescent mental health in China. Journal of Affective Disorders, 361, 111–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.11.023
World Health Organization. (2021). Mental health of adolescents: An overview. WHO Press.
Yuan, W. (2024). Comprehensively Strengthen and Improve Students’ Mental Health System in the New Era. China CDC Weekly, 6(29), 719–722. https://doi.org/10.46234/ccdcw2024.162
Liu, Y., Li, X., & Zhang, H. (2023). Academic stress, self-efficacy, and depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation model of social support. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1133706. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1133706
Wang, Y., et al. (2020). Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms of High School Students in Shandong Province During the COVID-19 Epidemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(23), 8902. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238902
Zhang, L., Wang, H., & Li, Y. (2025). Chain mediation of resilience and self-efficacy between social support and mental health among Chinese adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1486949. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1486949
Zhang, Y., Liu, X., & Chen, J. (2025). Self-efficacy and resilience as serial mediators between academic stress and depression in Chinese adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1626157. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1626157
Zhao, X., Li, J., & Zhang, H. (2023). Modern mediation analysis in consumer research: Updated guidelines and applications. Journal of Consumer Research, 50(3), 678–692. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucad037
Zimmerman, M. A., & Thulin, E. J. (2021). Resilience theory and community well-being. In The Cambridge handbook of community psychology (pp. 305–320). Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-community-psychology/community-resilience/168FB42C30F51CE9B2C6F56BFD09BBC1
