We deal with the problem
⎧ -Δu = f(x,u) + λg(x,u), in Ω,
⎨ ()
⎩
where Ω ⊂ ℝⁿ is a bounded domain, λ ∈ ℝ, and f,g: Ω×ℝ → ℝ are two Carathéodory functions with f(x,0) = g(x,0) = 0. Under suitable assumptions, we prove that there exists λ* > 0 such that, for each λ ∈ (0,λ*), problem () admits a non-zero, non-negative strong solution such that for all p ≥ 2. Moreover, the function is negative and decreasing in ]0,λ*[, where is the energy functional related to ().