Examining the Link Between Character Strengths and Positive and Negative Mental Health Indicators in Iranian Adolescents

Abstract

Character strengths are an important foundation for positive development and thriving in adolescence. Most research on character strengths has been conducted with youths in Western cultures. We examined character strengths in relation to positive and negative well-being indicators in a sample of Iranian youths. We investigated the reliability and validity of the Farsi version of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth (VIA Y-96)—a self-report survey commonly used in Western contexts. Participants were adolescents in Iran ( N = 1,359; 48.5% female; M age = 13.54, SD = 1.00) who completed the VIA Y-96 and questionnaires assessing life satisfaction, positive/negative experiences, depression, anxiety, and stress. We found that reliability coefficients were acceptable for most of the VIA subscales. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), as well as a second-order CFA, supported the construct validity of the Farsi VIA Y-96. Correlations between the character strengths and positive and negative well-being indicators supported convergent validity. Measurement invariance for the VIA Y-96 was established in this study comparing boys’ and girls’ response patterns. Sex and grade level differences were found for some of the subscales. Overall, the Farsi VIA Y-96 had acceptable psychometric properties, suggesting that it can be used in research on character strengths with Iranian youths.

Initial validation of the Chinese version VIA Youth-96 and age-related changes in character strengths among adolescents

“…Our CFA confirmed a good fit of the original four-factor model for the Chinese version VIA Youth-96. This result was in line with the study of English (Park and Peterson, 2006) and Farsi version VIA Youth-96 (Jabbari et al, 2021), suggesting that the four-factor model may be applicable in multiple cultures, including the Chinese context. Further reliability analysis, however, revealed high ω h (0.83) but low ω hs (0.05-0.22) of the four-factor structure, indicating that the vast majority of reliable variance is attributable to a single common source, rather than the specific factors.…”

“…Subsequent studies mostly revealed similar, but not identical, solutions to the original article, generating either a four (McGrath and Walker, 2016) or five-factor (Gillham et al, 2011;Toner et al, 2012;Ruch et al, 2014) solution [see Wagner and Ruch (2022) for a review]. Recently, Jabbari et al (2021) replicated the original four-factor model using the Farsi version VIA-Youth. Yet, Van Eeden et al (2008) found that the South African version VIA-Youth is more unidimensional than multi-dimensional.…”

Well-being, character strengths, and depression in emerging adults

“… Duan and Wang (2018) found in a sample of 3,536 Chinese that people found that those with lower levels of character strengths were more likely to be depressed. Another study of 1,411 Iranian adolescents found that those with lower levels of character strengths were more likely to be depressed ( Jabbari et al, 2021 ). Casali et al (2021) presented a study of 944 Italians found that those with lower levels of hope, enthusiasm, and love were more likely to be depressed.…”

Life Satisfaction and Character Strengths in Women With Breast Cancer: Zest and Hope as Predictors

“…34,35 Research with adolescents has observed a similar relationship between hope and life satisfaction. 31,33,36,37 In people with physical illness, higher levels of zest, hope, and leadership were found to be related to fewer problems of depression and anxiety, whereas bravery, humor, and kindness were associated with the recovery of satisfaction with life. 38 Regarding women with breast cancer, studies analyzing the association between character strengths and life satisfaction are scarce.…”

“… 32 These associations have been observed in different populations. 31 , 33 - 37 For example, research with informal caregivers of patients with dementia found that gratitude, zest, love, and hope were positively associated with life satisfaction and negatively with caregiving burden, although the most relevant strength in this respect was hope. 34 , 35 Research with adolescents has observed a similar relationship between hope and life satisfaction.…”