The role of personal psychological resources in predicting mental health issues among generation Z youth

Abstract

Amid the growing psychological-social challenges faced by Generation Z, this study examines the effects of six personal psychological resources-resilience, hope, self-efficacy, autonomy, optimism, and acceptance- on three dimensions of mental health: life satisfaction, problematic smartphone use, and loneliness. Data were collected from 689 young participants, and multivariate regression analyses indicate that acceptance emerges as a consistently protective factor, positively associated with life satisfaction and negatively associated with both smartphone overuse and loneliness across genders. These findings underscore the essential role of personal psychological resources in predicting key mental health concerns among Generation Z youth.