Are adolescents with high mental toughness levels more resilient against stress?

Abstract

Mental toughness has been explored predominantly within sport contexts. Nevertheless, it is difficult to conceive mentaltoughness as only applicable to athletes. This study examines whether mentally tough participants exhibit resilience againststress. This is a cross-sectional study based on two different samples: Sample 1 consisted of 284 high school students(99 males, 185 females,M= 18.3 years). Sample 2 consisted of 140first throughfifth semester undergraduate students(53 males, 87 females,M= 20.0 years). Participants provided information about their level of perceived stress (10-itemPerceived Stress Scale), mental toughness (48-item Mental Toughness Questionnaire) and depressive symptoms (BeckDepression Inventory). Consistent across the two samples, mental toughness mitigated the relationship betweenhigh stress and depressive symptoms. Theinteraction between stress and mental toughness explained 2% of variance inthe adolescent sample and 10% of varianceamong young adults. The promotion of protective factors that foster resilientadaptation is a relevant issue. Mental toughness may appeal to individuals that are typically difficult to be reachedwith health interventions. Because mental toughness is part of young people’s daily speech, it may serve as a less academicresource than other health psychology concepts.