Abstract

Negative life events (NLEs) are robust environmental correlates of adolescent internalizing problems (IPs), yet the psychological mechanism and boundary conditions remain unclear. To examine whether self-esteem accounts for the association between NLEs and adolescent IPs, and whether resilience conditions these links, 400 adolescents completed anonymous measures assessing NLEs, IPs, self-esteem, and resilience. The results show that (1) NLEs were positively associated with IPs, (2) self-esteem mediated the association between NLEs and IPs, (3) resilience moderated the relationship between NLEs and IPs, and (4) resilience also moderated the link between NLEs and self-esteem, such that associations were weaker at higher resilience. The index of moderated mediation was significant, indicating that the indirect effect via self-esteem decreased as resilience increased. These findings suggest that reduced self-esteem is an important link between exposure to negative life events and internalizing symptoms. Moreover, the findings indicate that resilience functions as a protective factor that attenuates both direct and indirect associations, suggesting potential targets for school-based prevention aimed at strengthening self-worth and resilience.

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