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Positive Emotions as a Moderator of the Associations Between Self-Control and Social Support Among Adolescents with Risk Behaviors

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Abstract

The present study investigated the moderating role of positive emotions on the associations between self-control and social support with gambling and water-pipe smoking. One hundred fifty-five adolescents aged 12–19 (M = 16.19) were contacted in 2011 at five centers for at-risk youth in Israel. Self-report findings indicated that positive emotions moderated the associations between peer social support and gambling and between self-control and water-pipe smoking. Among adolescents with higher rates of positive emotions, higher rates of self-control skills contributed to lower frequencies of water-pipe smoking. In addition, among adolescents with higher rates of positive emotions, higher levels of social support contributed to non-involvement in gambling behavior. The discussion centers on the mechanisms that can enable positive emotions to activate personality-related and environmental resources to curb adolescent risk behaviors.

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Notes

  1. These centers (four located in central cities and one in southern Israel) provide counseling and support on an informal basis as well as a variety of enrichment activities for self-referred youths on diverse adolescence-related topics. ELEM’s working model is similar to The Door in New York City (The Door 2003). According to ELEM’s own reports (Kahan-Strawczynski Vazan-Sikron, Zaslavsky, Geffen, & Ronel, 2002), attendees are a heterogeneous group of youth presenting a wide spectrum of risk situations and various levels of functioning: At one end of the spectrum some face normative difficulties characteristic of adolescence and need counseling and support services, whereas at the other end, others may be exposed to severe environmental hardships (neglect, abuse, poverty), and exhibit emotional detachment, and social alienation (delinquency), and as such need more comprehensive interventions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Yasmin Alkalay for her statistical consultation.

Informed Consent

All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Committee on Human Experimentation (Tel-Aviv University, Israel) and the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Belle Gavriel-Fried & Tammie Ronen

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  1. Belle Gavriel-Fried
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  2. Tammie Ronen
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Correspondence to Belle Gavriel-Fried.

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Gavriel-Fried, B., Ronen, T. Positive Emotions as a Moderator of the Associations Between Self-Control and Social Support Among Adolescents with Risk Behaviors. Int J Ment Health Addiction 14, 121–134 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-015-9580-z

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