The Effect of Emotional Invalidation on Adolescent Mental Health:
An Empirical Study of Korean High School Students
#Emotional Invalidation #Adolescents’ Mental Health #Self-Esteem #Korean Highschool
Meet the Team
Aaron Kim
Senior
Seoul International School,
Republic of Korea
Jimin Park
Junior
Seoul International School,
Republic of Korea
Yates Park
Junior
Seoul International School,
Republic of Korea
Introduction
Emotional invalidation, the process of negating or dismissing an individual's emotional experiences, has been extensively studied for its detrimental effects on mental health. However, the focus has often been on adult populations, leaving a gap in understanding its impact on adolescents. This is particularly concerning given that adolescence is a critical period for emotional and psychological development.
Statistics on youth self-harm·suicide by year
Source: Korea Hope for Life Foundation, National Medical Center
Number of childㆍadolescent suicides (broken line)
& proportion compared to the total (bar)
Number of childrenㆍadolescents who self-harmㆍattempt suicide (broken line)
& proportion compared to the total (bar)
Adolescent stress perception rate
& depression experience rate
Source: Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency
Stress perception rate
Depression experience rate
This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the specific effects of emotional invalidation on adolescents' mental health, self-esteem, and coping mechanisms, with a particular focus on a high-stress educational environment in Korean high schools.
Method
A purposive quota sampling was conducted online through Macromill Embrain, a leading company specialized in online research. The sample included Korean high school students. A descriptive statistical analysis of the survey data of 330 people was conducted from 31st of March to 3rd of April, 2023. Statistical processing for survey analysis used the SPSS program. The demographic analysis is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Survey Demographics
Results
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Emotional invalidation was positively correlated with distress intolerance, meaning that adolescents who experience more emotional invalidation are less able to tolerate emotional distress.
-
Furthermore, emotional invalidation was negatively correlated with self-esteem and self-efficacy, indicating that it undermines adolescents' self-worth and belief in their abilities.
-
Most alarmingly, the study found that emotional invalidation contributes to declines in overall mental health and is a significant predictor of insomnia among adolescents.
Invalidation
0.59
-.66
-.32
Distress
Intolerance
Self-Esteem
Self-Efficacy
-.21
0.53
0.29
Mental health
Insomnia
0.42
Fig. 1: Emotional Invalidation Regression Model
