Explanation of psychological distress in adolescents through community variables.

Abstract

The objective of the article is to causally relate the community variables: community integration, community participation, social support in informal systems, attitudes towards institutional authority, with the development of psychological distress in adolescents. The sample is made up of 1,587 adolescents aged 12 to 17 from Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. The results show significant relationships between psychological distress and community variables. Adolescents with severe psychological distress present higher averages of positive attitude towards the transgression of social norms and lower integration, participation, social support in informal systems and positive attitude towards institutional authority. Regression analyzes reveal that positive attitude towards the transgression of social norms, positive attitude towards institutional authority and community integration predict psychological distress.