Features of depression and stress resistance in adolescents

Abstract

This article presents an empirical study of the characteristics of depression and stress resilience among young adults under conditions of heightened social and psychological stress. The relevance of the study is determined by the increasing prevalence of stress and depressive symptoms among young people in today’s unstable social environment, including the context of military events, which significantly affect mental health, adaptive capacity, and quality of life. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between levels of depression and stress resilience in young adults. The object of the study comprised individual psychological characteristics, while the subject focused on depression and stress resilience as key indicators of psychological adaptation in young adulthood. The empirical sample consisted of 40 participants aged 18 to 23 years (20 men and 20 women). A set of psychodiagnostic methods was employed, including the Holmes and Rahe Stress and Social Adjustment Scale, the Life Satisfaction Index, and V. Zhmurov’s method for the differential diagnosis of depressive states. Correlation analysis was used for statistical data processing. The results demonstrated that a significant proportion of participants exhibited low or threshold levels of stress resilience, along with moderate to high levels of depressive symptoms. Depression among young adults showed statistically significant inverse correlations with indicators such as goal consistency, congruence between set and achieved goals, and overall life satisfaction. Higher levels of depressive symptoms were associated with lower subjective psychological well-being and reduced adaptive resources. The findings confirm the necessity of early psychodiagnosis of depressive manifestations and stress resilience in student populations, as well as the development and implementation of preventive and corrective programs within psychological support systems in higher education institutions.