Salud mental positiva en adolescentes mexicanos: diferencias por sexo.

Empirical evidence of differences in positive mental health with respect to sex, are sparse, even controversial. The objective here is to analyze positive mental health between men and women. The sample is made up of 533 participants from Toluca, State of Mexico. All were upper-level students, males (44.4%) and females (55.6%), between 14 and 20 years old. The Positive Mental Health Questionaire (PMHQ) was applied (Lluch, 1999). The results showed that 38.3% of the sample is at a high level and 16.1% at a very high level of positive mental health. From the descriptive analysis the personal satisfaction dimension scored above the theoretical average. The hypothesis is partially confirmed, since significant differences were obtained in four of the six dimensions, in personal satisfaction, prosocial attitude and ability for interpersonal relationships, with higher scores for females and self-control in the male group. We suggest that the analysis of positive mental health be continued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]