Andreja Brajša-Žganec, PhD, presented the results of the TEEN-WELL project at the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends; Funchal, Madeira, 18-20/04/2026
The TEEN-WELL project leader (Pilar NextGeneration EU Institute) Andreja Brajša-Žganec, PhD, presented the results of a pilot study conducted on adolescents in Varaždin and Osijek-Baranja counties at the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) conference held from 18 to 20 April in Madeira, Portugal
– InPACT 2026: International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends:
The title of the presentation was “Mother-adolescent conflict and adolescent depressive symptoms: The moderating role of environmental sensitivity and neuroticism” (Brajša-Žganec, A., Džida, M., Kaliterna Lipovčan, LJ., Kotrla Topić, M., Bolić, T.). The results indicate the relationship between maternal-adolescent conflict and adolescent depressive symptoms, and the moderating role of environmental sensitivity and neuroticism. We examined whether maternal-adolescent conflict predicted adolescent depressive symptoms beyond maternal warmth, involvement, and autonomy support, and whether adolescent environmental sensitivity and neuroticism moderated this association.
Regression analyses showed that maternal-adolescent conflict significantly predicted greater depressive symptoms even after controlling for adolescent age, gender, personality characteristics, and maternal parenting behaviors. Furthermore, this association was moderated by environmental sensitivity: highly sensitive adolescents reported greater depressive symptoms in conditions of high conflict.
