Introduction: The interrelationship between social support, depressive symptoms, stress and self-esteem in young adults remains unclear. This study aims to test the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between social support and depressive symptoms and the moderating role of perceived stress in the relationship between the two. This is important to inform components of future intervention development targeting youth depression.Methods: Three hundred forty-four (N = 344) young adults in Cyprus aged 17–26 (78% female) completed measures of self-esteem, social support, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress. Structural equation models were used to examine the interactions between social support and depressive psychopathology, whereas mediational analyses were run to examine the mediating role of self-esteem. Latent moderated mediation models were applied to examine the potentially moderating role of perceived stress.Results: Perceived social support from family and friends were significantly related to lower depressive symptoms. Self-esteem fully mediated the relationship between perceived family support and depressive symptoms. Perceived stress moderated the model, and perceived social support was found to be more protective against depressive symptoms when moderate levels of stress were presented.Conclusion: The study demonstrates that social support is protective against depressive symptoms. Self-esteem and perceived stress are important mechanisms that interact with this effect. Implications include the efforts to increase perceived family support during college years and management of stress levels before working with depressive symptoms.

The aims of the present study were to explore the impact of parental characteristics (behavioural control and psychological control) on adolescents' expression of externalizing and internalizing behaviours. To address the aim of the study, participants completed quantitative measures; the study included 538 adolescents and their mothers and fathers. Overall, 513 mothers and 464 fathers participated in the study. Adolescents completed the Children's Report on Parent Behaviour Inventory (CRPBI), while parents completed the Child Behaviour Checklist e Parent Report (Short Form; CBCL). Results of the study showed that only maternal and paternal psychological control predicted externalizing and internalizing behaviours. The conclusions have practical applications, as they can provide novel approaches in parent training programmes. Furthermore, results are discussed in relation to the connection with earlier studies and the theoretical contribution.

This chapter examines the existing relationship between diferent types of parental practices and the development of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems in adolescence. Parental involvement and parenting styles are deined and analyzed as possible parameters of adolescent problems, including bullying and victimization. Special emphasis is given to the distinction between behavioral and psychological parental control. Furthermore, issues such as parent-adolescent conlict, locus of control, and parental values are discussed as correlates of these problems, since prior research has identiied them as either risk or protective factors for child and adolescent social and emotional adaptation.

Contradictory evidence exists on the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control scale's factor structure and the psychometric equivalence between Form A and Form B. University students (N = 359) completed the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control and General Self-Efficacy scales. The three-factor model had better fit and parsimony in both Forms. 'Internal' scale negatively correlated with 'chance' but positively with 'others'. The two external scales positively correlated. The scales' reliability was satisfactory, but the two Forms were not psychometrically equivalent. Convergent validity was confirmed. The evidence suggests a three-factor structure and psychometric non-equivalence of the two Forms. Researchers should make an informed choice on which Form to use.

High variability was encountered for most reference surfaces. Ellipsotoric surfaces presented acceptable repeatability in KC and post-CXL corneas.