Ansiedad y depresión en contextos educativos: prevalencia, evaluación e impacto en el ajuste psicológico

Abstract

Emotional problems constitute one of the main challenges for educational and social-health systems among young people. The main objective of this study was to study the symptoms of anxiety and depression in educational contexts. For this purpose, prevalence rates have been analyzed, a brief screening test to assess anxiety and depression has been validated and its relationship with psychological adjustment has been studied. A total of 2228 Spanish adolescents (M = 14.49 years, SD = 1.76; 52.9% female) participated in the study. The brief version developed to assess emotional problems was adjusted to a two-factor model (depression and anxiety). The reliability of the scores was ω = .82 and ω = .87. Symptoms of anxiety and depression have been positively associated with negative affect and emotional and behavioral problems, and negatively related with positive affect and quality of life. Emotional regulation difficulties seen to be common in educational contexts and impact on different indicators of psychological adjustment during adolescence. Anxiety and depression can be assessed with reliable screening test. It is necessary to implement programs for the prevention of emotional problems in educational contexts.