Empathy in Workplace Relationships: Experiences of Generation Z Nurses with Colleagues and Nurse Managers.

Adolescent mental health is a growing global and national public health priority. A meta-analysis of studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic reported that approximately 25% of teenagers worldwide exhibit clinically significant depressive symptoms, while anxiety affects approximately 20% []. In Thailand, national survey data indicate that approximately 37.8% of adolescents are at risk for depression, and around 22% have reported suicidal ideation []. Urban secondary school students face particularly intense academic pressures; approximately 26% of Thai upper secondary school students report significant educational stress []. Chronic stress and depression during adolescence are associated with mental health disorders, impaired academic performance, and adverse long-term well-being outcomes, highlighting the need for effective protective strategies. Resilience—the capacity to adapt positively to adversity and recover from stress—is recognized as a key protective factor that may buffer the effects of stress and reduce the risk of depression []. Resilience is conceptualized not as a fixed trait but as a dynamic, learnable capacity that develops through the interaction of individual and environmental resources. It influences individual outcomes through several interrelated mechanisms. Cognitively, resilient individuals tend to appraise stressors as challenges rather than threats and use cognitive reappraisal to reinterpret adverse experiences in more adaptive terms, dampening physiological and emotional stress responses []. Emotionally, resilience involves regulatory skills that limit the intensity and duration of negative affect, thereby reducing vulnerability to depressive symptoms. Behaviorally, resilient individuals draw actively on personal strengths and problem-solving strategies rather than avoidance. Socially, resilience is sustained by supportive relationships that provide emotional resources and buffer isolation. Because these appraisal, regulatory, and relational capacities are modifiable, structured programs can strengthen resilience, and adolescence—a period of heightened neuroplasticity, identity formation, and rising stress exposure—represents an especially opportune developmental window for such intervention. Fostering resilience through school-based programs offers a scalable, non-clinical preventive approach to promoting adolescent mental health. Strength-based resilience programs, rooted in positive psychology, emphasize the identification and development of individual strengths and assets rather than focusing solely on deficits or pathology [].