Medición de las fortalezas del carácter en adolescentes y su predicción en el afrontamiento y bienestar psicológico

Abstract

The construct of character strengths and virtues arises from research undertaken by Peterson and Seligman. Based on this theory, García-Álvarez proposed an alternative measurement known as “growing up strong”, a scale aimed at evaluating this variable in adolescents. The objectives of the work were to determine the psychometric properties of this instrument in young Marabineans, as well as also to establish differences according to sex and age, and to clarify which of these strengths were predictors of coping strategies and psychological well-being. An instrumental, cross-sectional, correlational and non-experimental research was carried out with the participation of 528 subjects. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the data were consistent with the hexadimensional theoretical model, and adequate adjustment figures were found. There was also evidence of convergent and discriminant validity and high global indices of internal consistency, although some of the subscale coefficients were low. Women exhibited higher scores than men on traits such as open mind, perspective, honesty, kindness, social intelligence, fairness, forgiveness, gratitude and spirituality; while men scored higher only on enthusiasm. There were also differences according to age favoring the more adults. All strengths were significant predictors of coping strategies, with the exception of that linked to alcohol and drug use. These attributes also predicted the psychological well-being of the adolescents globally and in terms of their dimensions. It is concluded that the “growing up strong” scale is an appropriate option to measure the construct in adolescents, both for research purposes, and for therapeutic care, mental health promotion and other prevention modalities in the field of adolescent health.