Unravelling the complex nature of resilience factors and their changes between early and later adolescence.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Childhood adversity (CA) is strongly associated with mental health problems. Resilience factors (RFs) reduce mental health problems following CA. Yet, knowledge on the nature of RFs is scarce. Therefore, we examined RF mean levels, RF interrelations, RF-distress pathways, and their changes between early (age 14) and later adolescence (age 17).

Methods

We studied 10 empirically supported RFs in adolescents with (CA+; n = 631) and without CA (CA-; n = 499), using network psychometrics.

Results

All inter-personal RFs (e.g. friendships) showed stable mean levels between age 14 and 17, and three of seven intra-personal RFs (e.g. distress tolerance) changed in a similar manner in the two groups. The CA+ group had lower RFs and higher distress at both ages. Thus,

SUBMITTER: Fritz J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6854636 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature