Understanding the protective factors (self-esteem, family relationships, social support) and adolescents’ mental health in Jakarta

Objective: Mental health problems may occur in teenage years, thus it is important for adolescents to understand how to maintain mental health. Method: This was a correlative descriptive study to examine mental health and adolescent protective factors (self esteem, family relationships, and social support). There were 452 eighth grade students under 15 years old at junior high schools who participated in this study. The respondents were selected with purposive sampling technique. Respondents filled a questionnaire about self esteem, family relationships, social support, and youth mental health. Results: The results show the majority of respondents have moderate self esteem, good family relationships, and adequate social support from parents, teachers, classmates, and peers, but they obtain lack social support from school (such as school administrator and anyone, except teachers and their friends). Conclusions: Promotion of adolescent mental health is recommended for schools. Adolescent protective factors could be improved to achieve optimal adolescent mental health.