The association between emotional symptoms and daily life stressors is not moderated by intergroup behaviours among school-going adolescents in Zambia

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic characteristics the participants

Variable	Mean (SD)	Min – Max	No (%)
Sex
Boys			323 (51.4)
Girls			305 (48.6)
Age	16.94 (1.26)	11–20
Grade	11.33 (0.62)	9 − 12
Education of Father
Primary education			53 (8.4)
Secondary education			365 (57.9)
Tertiary education			212 (33.7)
Education of Mother*
Primary education			25 (10.5)
Secondary education			40 (16.9)
Tertiary education			172 (72.6)
Living arrangement
Parents			419 (71.4)
Uncle/Aunt			75 (12.8)
Older sibling			50 (8.5)
Grand parents			31 (5.3)
Others			12 (2)
Family size	6.13 (2.13)	1–14

*had missing values

Table 2. Psychological outcomes means for boys and girls

		Gender
	All	Girls	Boys	t value	df
Daily life stressors	27.66 (16.81)	30 (16.38)	25.45 (16.96)	2.75**	403
Emotional symptoms	3.87 (2.45)	4.68 (2.52)	3.11 (2.12)	8.20***	582
Active harm	17.42 (9.16)	18.06 (9.58)	16.86 (8.74)	1.48	495.60
Passive harm	27.70 (10.32)	28.39 (9.98)	27.04 (10.04)	1.52	502
Active facilitation	35.65 (11.32)	36.14 (11.40)	35.16 (11.23)	0.97	512
Passive facilitation	23.78 (10.11)	24.31 (10.50)	23.27 (9.70)	1.15	498

Note: standard deviations appear in parenthesis next to mean scores; ** = P ≤ 0.01; *** = P ≤ 0.001

Table 3. Specific emotional symptoms and daily life stressors disaggregated by sex

		Gender
	All	Girls	Boys	Sig
Somatic complaints	105(17%) [0.62 ± 0.76]	76(26%) [0.86 ± 0.80]	29(9%) [0.39 ± 0.65]	***
Worry	199(32%) [1.01 ± 0.80]	110(37%) [1.11 ± 0.78]	89(28%) [0.92 ± 0.80]	**
Unhappy	91(15%) [0.58 ± 0.73]	67(22%) [0.73 ± 0.80]	24(8%) [0.45 ± 0.63]	***
Clingy/nervous	166(27%) [1.01 ± 0.73]	96(32%) [1.11 ± 0.73]	70(22%) [0.92 ± 0.71]	**
Fearful/scared	110(18%) [0.66 ± 0.76]	80(27%) [0.89 ± 0.80]	30(9%) [0.45 ± 0.66]	***
Top 5 daily stressors
Tired in the afternoon	193 (32.6%) [1.81 ± 1.39]	103 (36.5%) [1.94 ± 1.43]	90 (29.1%) [1.70 ± 1.34]	*
Hard getting up in the morning	170(27.8%) [1.65 ± 1.44]	104 (36.1%) [1.89 ± 1.50]	66 (20.6%) [1.43 ± 1.35]	***
Important to look nice	162 (27.6%) [1.43 ± 1.57]	81(29.1%) [1.54 ± 1.59]	81 (26.3%) [1.38 ± 1.54]
Hard doing homework	163 (27%) [1.48 ± 1.49]	86(29.9%) [1.53 ± 1.51]	77(24.6%) [1.44 ± 1.48]
Hard to talk about personal things	139 (23%) [1.38 ± 1.42]	79(27.5%) [1.53 ± 1.48]	60 (19.1%) [1.25 ± 1.35]	*
Hard to get out with friends	139(23%) [1.29 ± 1.50]	84 (29.4%) [1.50 ± 1.59]	55 (17.5%)1.10 ± 1.40]	**

* = P ≤ 0.05; ** = P ≤ 0.01; *** = P ≤ 0.001

Table 4. Relationship between daily life stressors & emotional symptoms as moderated by intergroup subjective behaviours

	Model 1			Model 2
Variable	B	SE B	t	B	SE B	t
Step 1
Daily life stressors	0.44***	.07	6.03	0.44***	0.07	6.04
Active harm	0.28*	.12	2.42	0.31**	0.12	2.65
DLS X Actharm	−0.05	.11	−0.47	−0.07	0.11	−0.60
Being a female				0.28***	0.05	5.20
Being older				−0.02	0.06	−0.30
High SES				−0.01	0.06	−0.25
R	0.48			0.56
R^2	0.23			0.32
Step 2
Daily life stressors	0.48***	0.08	6.10	0.44***	0.08	5.58
Passive harm	.05	0.10	0.47	0.02	0.10	0.24
DLS X passharm	−0.02	0.11	−0.21	0.01	0.11	0.13
Being a female				0.25****	0.05	4.67
Being older				−0.01	0.05	−0.07
High SES				0.01	0.05	0.18
R	0.47			0.53
R^2	0.22			0.28
Step 3
Daily life stressor	0.49***	0.05	10.13	0.48***	0.05	9.50
Active facilitation	0.01	0.05	0.16	−0.01	0.05	−0.18
DLS X Actfac	0.06	0.05	1.37	0.06	0.05	1.23
Being a female				0.24***	0.05	4.83
Being older				−0.04	0.05	−0.85
High SES				0.01	0.5	0.14
R	0.50			0.56
R^2	0.25			0.31
Step 4:
Daily life stressors	0.45***	0.05	8.68	0.43***	0.05	8.29
Passive facilitation	0.11*	0.05	2.14	0.09	0.05	1.89
DLS X Pasfac	0.01	0.04	0.36	0.02	0.04	0.42
Being a female				0.28***	0.05	5.60
Being older				0.01	0.05	0.28
High SES				−0.01	0.05	−0.014
R	0.51			0.58
R^2	0.26			0.34

*** < 0.001; ** < 0.01; * < 0.05

Figure 1. Association between DLS and ES as moderated by active harm

Figure 2. Association between DLS and ES as moderated by passive harm

Figure 3. Association between DLS and ES as moderated by active facilitation

Figure 4. Association between DLS and ES as moderated by passive facilitation