Social roles traditionally attributed to women and men - and the differences in the use of time that such roles entail - are relevant in gender differences in psychological distress.

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Emerging adulthood is a critical period of life that entails many life transitions in living arrangements, relationships, education and employment, which can generate stress and psychological distress in the emerging adult. The aim of the present study was to assess the relevance of stress, coping styles, self-esteem and perceived social support in the distress of emerging adult women and men. The sample consists of 4816 people (50% females) from the Spanish general population, ranging in age from 18 to 29 years old. All participants were assessed through questionnaires and scales that assess psychological distress, stress, coping styles, self-esteem and social support. Women scored higher than men in psychological distress, chronic stress, minor daily hassles, emotional coping style and social support, whereas men scored higher than women in rational and detachment coping styles and in self-esteem. Psychological distress was significantly predicted in women and men by high emotional coping style, lower self-esteem, high number of life events, and less social support. Another statistically significant predictor in men was less detachment coping style, whereas in women it was high chronic stress. The results of this research are relevant to healthcare professionals interested in improving the mental health of the emerging adult.

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It is well-known that traumatic events and adverse life situations are very important in both physical and psychological health. Prevalence studies suggested that adolescents experience at least one potentially traumatic event before reaching age 18. The paradigm of research centered on expressive writing has evidenced the beneficial effects that the emotional disclosure of previous traumas produces on physical health and psychological adjustment. The aims of the study are threefold: determining the prevalence of adverse or traumatic events; examining the extent to which psychopathological symptoms developed in those exposed to traumatic events; and exploring an verbal emotional disclosure (VED) paradigm in which variations on time spent talking about traumatic experiences to others resulted in a reduction of the psychological impact of trauma in a sample of Spanish adolescents. 422 volunteer adolescents participated, 226 boys and 192 girls, from 10 to 19 years old, all of them living in Tenerife. The mean age was 14.8 years (SD = 1.83). All of them completed the instruments used to assess the psychological impact of traumatic experiences and VED. The main results indicated that 77% of the participants had suffered a traumatic situation. The participants who have been exposed to traumatic events scored significantly higher in measures of post-traumatic stress, disorder, intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviors, anxiety and depression, compared to those without trauma. Furthermore, results show a decrease in symptomatology scores as a function of time spent disclosing emotional experiences to others, particularly when disclosure occurred several times. In conclusion, stressful events or traumatic experiences and their concomitant emotional effects are highly prevalent in adolescents, and repeated VED to others appears to ameliorate their impact. VED shows greater therapeutic benefits when adolescents narrate the experience on several occasions and in an extensive way.

El efecto diferencial de escribir sobre un mismo trauma o sobre diferentes traumas en el bienestar psicológico y el estado de salud autoinformado * r e s u m e n El presente trabajo se inscribe dentro de los estudios sobre la eficacia de la reexperimentación emocional de eventos traumáticos. 39 mujeres estudiantes fueron asignadas a tres condiciones experimentales: escribir sobre un mismo trauma, escribir sobre un trauma diferente y escribir sobre cuestiones triviales. Como variables dependientes se tomaron el afecto positivo y negativo, el nivel de síntomas de estrés postraumático, el nivel de depresión y el nivel de salud. A los dos meses se observó una disminución de la sintomatología de estrés postraumático y de la salud física para el grupo que escribió sobre el mismo trauma. El nivel de depresión también disminuyó, tanto para el grupo que escribió sobre el mismo trauma como para el que escribió sobre traumas distintos. A pesar de que el modelo de la exposición cognitiva es el que consigue un mayor apoyo, los resultados se discuten de acuerdo a nuevos modelos explicativos más comprehensivos. Palabras clave autoresReexperimentación emocional, instrucciones de escritura, salud física y bienestar psicológico. Palabras clave descriptores Adaptación (psicología), actitud frente a la salud, depresión mental. a B s t r a c tThe present article is inserted into the studies on the effectiveness of the emotional disclosure of traumatic events. 39 women students were assigned to three experimental conditions: to write on a same trauma, to write about different traumas, and to write on trivial affaires. As dependent variables, the positive and negative affect, the level of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, the level of depression and the level of health, were assessed. Two months later, a significant diminution of both symptoms of post-traumatic stress and symptoms of physical health for the group that wrote on the same trauma was observed. The depression level also diminished, both for the group that wrote on the same trauma, and for that wrote on different traumas. Although the model of the cognitive exposure has got a greater support, the results are discussed according to the need for a new and more extended explanatory model.