Mapping Anxiety, Stress, Depression, Resilience and Happiness in the Adolescent Population: A Network Analysis and Comparison by Sex

TL;DR

This study maps mental health factors in Peruvian adolescents, finding that stress and anxiety are closely linked and that happiness is less central to mental health.

Contribution

The study introduces a network analysis of mental health and resilience factors in a low-to-middle-income Peruvian adolescent population.

Findings

Anxiety, depression, and stress are tightly interconnected with the strongest link between stress and anxiety.

Self-regulation and external resources are the most central and predictable psychological resources.

Happiness is a peripheral factor with a negative association to depression but not a central buffer.

Abstract

Background: Adolescence is a developmental window of heightened vulnerability to psychological distress, yet the interplay between pathology and protective factors remains understudied in a low-to-middle-income urban district in North Lima, Peru. This study examined the network structure of resilience, happiness, and mental health indicators in Peruvian adolescents to identify precise intervention targets. Methods: A sample of 559 adolescents (49.9% boys; Mage = 14.72, SD = 1.43) recruited from public secondary schools in Carabayllo, a low-to-middle-income urban district in North Lima, Peru, completed validated measures of resilience (CD-RISC-25), subjective happiness, and mental health (anxiety, depression, and stress). A Gaussian Graphical Model was estimated using non-regularized partial correlations. Node centrality, predictability, and network stability were assessed, and a Network Comparison Test evaluated structural differences by sex. Results: Anxiety, depression, and stress formed a tightly interconnected core, with the strongest edge between stress and anxiety. Among the psychological resources, self-regulation and external resources showed the highest centrality and predictability, followed by personal competence and tenacity. Happiness occupied a peripheral position but maintained a negative association with depression. The network demonstrated strong stability (CS = 0.75). No significant structural or global strength differences emerged between boys and girls. Conclusions: Findings challenge generic well-being approaches, revealing that happiness is a distal factor rather than a central buffer in this population. Instead, the network architecture suggests that interrupting the stress–anxiety loop and fostering self-regulation skills constitute the most effective pathways for school-based mental health protection, regardless of student gender.

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