Personal values in adolescence and psychological distress in adults: A cross-sectional study based on a retrospective recall

Naonori Yasuma; Kazuhiro Watanabe; Mako Iida; Daisuke Nishi; Norito Kawakami

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0225454

Personal values in adolescence and psychological distress in adults: A cross-sectional study based on a retrospective recall

PLoS One. 2019 Nov 21;14(11):e0225454. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225454. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Naonori Yasuma^{1

2}, Kazuhiro Watanabe¹, Mako Iida³, Daisuke Nishi¹, Norito Kawakami¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mental Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
² Department of Community Mental Health and Law, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between personal values in adolescence retrospectively assessed and psychological distress in adults in a representative sample of community adults in Japan.

Methods: We used the J-SHINE data collected in 2010 and 2017. Personal values in adolescence were retrospectively measured in the 2017 survey in two ways: (1) value priorities developed from Schwartz's theory of basic values; and (2) commitment to values measured by Personal Values Questionnaire II (PVQ-II). Psychological distress was measured by using K6 in 2010. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to clarify the association between personal values in adolescence and psychological distress in adults, adjusting for sociodemographic variables, smoking, alcohol drinking, and economic status at age 15.

Results: Enduring active challenging, cherishing family and friends, and the commitment to values were significantly and negatively associated with psychological distress in adults. Pursuing one's interest was significantly and positively associated with psychological distress.

Conclusions: Having a value priority of enduring active challenging, cherishing family and friends, and the commitment to values in adolescence may reduce psychological distress in adults.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Alcohol Drinking / epidemiology*
Alcohol Drinking / psychology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Mental Recall
Middle Aged
Psychological Distress
Regression Analysis
Retrospective Studies
Smoking / epidemiology*
Smoking / psychology
Socioeconomic Factors
Stress, Psychological / epidemiology*
Young Adult

Grants and funding

This study was partly supported by MEXT KAKENHI Grant Number JP21119003, JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16H06395, 16H06398, and 16K21720. The Japanese Study on Stratification, Health, Income, and Neighborhood (J-SHINE) was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (No. 1119002) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, the writing of the report, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.