The Role of Optimism in Adolescent Mental Health: A Systematic Review

Optimism is a central concept in the field of positive psychology that focuses on the expectations that people have about the results of their future events. This review presents a synthesis of evidence from primary studies, whose findings reflect the role of optimism in adolescent mental health. This systematic review used a narrative approach for the data, based on the parameters of the Cochrane method and PRISMA. A protocol was registered in PROSPERO (Register number: CRD42019142616). A total of 31 articles, in a cohort of 46,262 adolescents between 13 and 17 years, showed significant primary outcomes which evidenced the role of optimism as a predictor, mediator, and protector of mental health during adolescence. This evidence suggests that optimism contributes significantly to the mental health of adolescents, functioning as a predictor of good mental health, a buffer against the impact of stress, and a protector against pathological symptoms and risk behaviors.