Longitudinal Relationships among Life Awe, Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Adolescents: A Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model

Life awe has emerged as a construct of interest in adolescent research. Yet systematic evidence clarifying its relationship with internalizing and externalizing problems remains limited. This study used a longitudinal design to explore the relationship among life awe, internalizing, and externalizing problems. Data were drawn from 2,258 adolescents (aged 11 ~ 20 years; M_age = 14.57, SD_age = 1.63; 40% females; 43.4% middle school, 56.6% high school), assessed across three waves at 6-month intervals. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) were used to disentangle within-person processes from between-person differences. Results showed life awe was significantly associated with lower levels of both problems. At the bivariate level, life awe showed a bidirectional association with internalizing problems, whereas its association with externalizing problems was unidirectional and varied across time. At the trivariate level, life awe was also involved in a sequential cross-domain association, whereby life awe at T1 was associated with externalizing problems at T2, which were in turn associated with internalizing problems at T3. These differentiated and cross-domain associations suggest that life awe may have relevance as a psychological resource in adolescence.