{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]],"date-time":"2026-02-01T02:37:01Z","timestamp":1769913421262,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,14]],"date-time":"2022-12-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1670976000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Psychological vulnerability (PV) indicates the individual\u2019s inability to adapt to stressful situations. Adolescents experience negative impacts on their future mental health if they do not acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to have good mental health during their developmental stage. Aim: To compare the PV index among the three stages of adolescence and to explore the factors involved in good mental health, including the relationship between adolescents\u2019 PV indices and sociodemographic variables, and the relationship between adolescents\u2019 PV index and their knowledge of the factors that characterize good mental health. Method: An exploratory, cross-sectional, correlational study was carried out in three public schools in a region of Portugal, using online self-completed questionnaires: the Psychological Vulnerability Scale (PVS) and the Mental Health-Promoting Knowledge (MHPK-10). Results: Our convenience sample consisted of 260 adolescents, with a mean age of 14.07 years who were students between 5th and 12th grades, mostly female. Moderate PV indexes were obtained that were higher in late adolescence, i.e., in older adolescents, who were females in a more advanced school year, with worse self-perceptions of their physical and mental health and body image, and who frequently used a health service due to mental health problems. The association between the PV index and the level of knowledge about the factors involved in good mental health did not reach a statistical significance\u00a0(p = 0.06). Conclusions: These results suggest a need for a design of personalized interventions that promote adolescents\u2019 mental health literacy, that prevent PV, and that should be initiated in early adolescence.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children9121961","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,14]],"date-time":"2022-12-14T02:22:41Z","timestamp":1670984561000},"page":"1961","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Psychological Vulnerability Indices and the Adolescent\u2019s Good Mental Health Factors: A Correlational Study in a Sample of Portuguese Adolescents"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8125-5384","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joana","family":"Nobre","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Health School, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal"},{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Rovira i Virgili, 43003 Tarragona, Spain"},{"name":"Nursing Research Unit for South and Islands (NURSE\u2019IN), Polytechnic Institute of Set\u00fabal, 2914-503 Set\u00fabal, Portugal"},{"name":"VALORIZA\u2014Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1092-7825","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Henrique","family":"Luis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health School, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal"},{"name":"Unidade de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o em Ci\u00eancias Orais e Biom\u00e9dicas (UICOB), Faculdade de Medicina Dent\u00e1ria, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua Teresa Ambr\u00f3sio, 1600-277 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechcare), Polytechnic of Leiria, 2410-541 Leiria, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Ana Paula","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health School, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal"},{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Rovira i Virgili, 43003 Tarragona, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4100-430X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco","family":"Monteiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health School, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0037-6919","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raul","family":"Cordeiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health School, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal"},{"name":"VALORIZA\u2014Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal"},{"name":"Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), University of \u00c9vora, 7000-811 \u00c9vora, Portugal"},{"name":"Group Inovation & Development in Nursing (NursID), Centro de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o em Tecnologias e Servi\u00e7os de Sa\u00fade (CINTESIS), 4200-450 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5620-3478","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlos","family":"Sequeira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Group Inovation & Development in Nursing (NursID), Centro de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o em Tecnologias e Servi\u00e7os de Sa\u00fade (CINTESIS), 4200-450 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Nursing School of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Carme","family":"Ferr\u00e9-Grau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Rovira i Virgili, 43003 Tarragona, Spain"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"23","article-title":"Finding Space to Mental Health\u2014Promoting Mental Health in Adolescents: Pilot Study","volume":"32","author":"Campos","year":"2014","journal-title":"Educ. 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