Youth mental health after the eruption of the Tajogaite volcano on La Palma. Multivariate analysis of the effects of direct and indirect exposure

Background. The eruption of the Tajogaite volcano on La Palma (2021) was a traumatic event with serious material and social repercussions. Objective. This study analyses its impact on the mental health of the island's youth from a biopsychosocial and gender perspective. Methodology. Application of a questionnaire to secondary school students (M=15.55 years; SD=2.556; 51.5% female and 48.5% male) from La Palma (n=612) and the rest of the islands of the province (n=909) to assess the prevalence of anxiety, low self-concept and unwanted loneliness by area. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed to study the differences in the psychosocial indicators under study according to the area of exposure to the volcano, gender and educational group. The effect size was estimated using η². Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify specific differences between variables. For between-group comparisons, Tukey's HSD post hoc test was used to control for Type I error rate. Significance was set at p<.10; p<.05; and p<.01. Results. The results reveal a significant effect derived from the area of analysis, where students in the area of direct exposure to the volcano show a lower incidence of problems related to mental health, as well as confirming the higher prevalence of these problems among females. Conclusion. It is concluded that Palm Island youth have developed positive resilience after the volcanic crisis, which highlights the importance of understanding the psychosocial effects of natural disasters in order to design more effective intervention strategies