High Developmental Demands and Limited Regulatory Resources Among Young Adults in Poland
A Wojtecka, A Konieczna, O Kalinowska-Beszczyńska, L Balwicki, J LindertAbstract
Background
The mental health of young people in Poland poses a significant public health challenge. Early adulthood (aged 15–24) is associated with high developmental demands that may exceed available coping resources. This study adopts a grounded theory approach, which involves inductively developing a theoretical framework based on patterns observed in the data. The proposed framework integrates classical concepts such as the transactional model of stress and coping, the concept of allostatic load, and the stress–disposition model, emphasizing the importance of the accumulation of stressors and regulatory constraints.
Methods
The study is a cross-sectional online study among 12 countries in Europe. We assessed depression (with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9), anxiety (with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7) and social factors (e.g. loneliness with the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, social capital with Social Capital Scale), and physical factors (e.g. natural disasters) and calculated descriptives and multivariate regression analyses.
Results
A total of 469 participants took part in the study, including 359 women (76.6%) and 110 men (23.4%). A high prevalence of symptoms of depression 51.5% (female 80%), anxiety 39.6% (female 82%), loneliness (mean 3.64, SD 1.75, min-max 0.00-6.00) and exposure to natural disasters (34,4%, female 76%, male 24%). Women reported higher social cohesion and religiosity, while men reported greater social participation.
Conclusions
Youth mental health in Poland is characterised by high levels of depression and anxiety, highlighting the need for prevention strategies that address modifiable risk factors and underlying social determinants.