Embracing the positive: an examination of how well resilience factors at age 14 can predict distress at age 17

Abstract

One-in-two people suffering from mental health problems develop such distress before or during adolescence. Research has shown that distress can predict itself well over time. Yet, little is known about how well resilience factors (RFs), i.e. those factors that decrease mental health problems, predict subsequent distress. Therefore, we investigated which RFs are the best indicators for subsequent distress and with what accuracy RFs predict subsequent distress. We examined three interpersonal (e.g. friendships) and seven intrapersonal RFs (e.g. self-esteem) and distress in 1130 adolescents, at age 14 and 17. We estimated the RFs and a continuous distress-index using factor analyses, and ordinal distress-classes using factor mixture models. We then examined how well age-14 RFs and age-14 distress predict age-17 distress, using stepwise linear regressions, relative importance analyses, as well as ordinal and linear prediction models. Low brooding, low negative and high positive self-esteem RFs were the most important indicators for age-17 distress. RFs and age-14 distress predicted age-17 distress similarly. The accuracy was acceptable for ordinal (low/ moderate/high age-17 distress-classes: 62-64%), but low for linear models (37-41%). Crucially, the accuracy remained similar when only self-esteem and brooding RFs were used instead of all ten RFs (ordinal = 62%; linear = 37%); correctly predicting for about two-in-three adolescents whether they have low, moderate or high distress 3 years later. RFs, and particularly brooding and self-esteem, seem to predict subsequent distress similarly well as distress can predict itself. As assessing brooding and self-esteem can be strength-focussed and is time-efficient, those RFs may be promising for risk-detection and translational intervention research.

Childhood exposure to interpersonal violence is associated with greater transdiagnostic integration of psychiatric symptoms

“…Further, at least one study has used network methodology to examine variation in a psychiatric disorder (psychosis) across types of early childhood trauma (Isvoranu et al, 2017). In a line of investigation converse to our own, Fritz, Fried, Goodyer, Wilkinson, and Harmelen (2018;2020) examined network relationships among protective resilience factors in the aftermath of childhood adversity, with important outcomes for mental health.…”

An Empirical Examination of How Resilience Factors Mitigate the Effect of Childhood Adversity on Adolescent Mental Health

“…We decided to use factor scores rather than sum scores to avoid tau-equivalence and to reduce measurement error (for a rationale see Additional file V Part A in Fritz, Stochl et al, 2019a 8 ). We pooled over the resulting factor scores and fit indices and extracted the resulting pooled factor scores for further analyses (see Supplement I in Fritz Stochl et al 2019b 9 for details). In sum, we could conduct the main analyses on 1130 participants, as those could be included in the imputation analyses (n = 1188) and had data for CA (n = 1139).…”

“…8 Moreover, we showed that most of the 10 RFs were not only concurrently associated with less mental health problems, but also three years later. 8,9 More specifically, the RFs predicted mental distress three years later similarly well as mental distress could predict itself. 9 Hence, there is good support showing that most of the 10 RFs do indeed reduce distress; or in other words, that RFs have a direct, negative effect on mental health problems.…”

“…8,9 More specifically, the RFs predicted mental distress three years later similarly well as mental distress could predict itself. 9 Hence, there is good support showing that most of the 10 RFs do indeed reduce distress; or in other words, that RFs have a direct, negative effect on mental health problems. However, as of yet, it is unclear how RFs decrease the detrimental consequences CA poses on mental health.…”

Social and Emotional Learning and Internalizing Problems among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Resilience

“…Moreover, according to Konaszewski and colleagues, resilience is essential in helping adolescents achieve well-being by reducing the focus on negative emotions [ 37 ]. Fritz and colleagues supported this assertion by showing that lower levels of resilience at an earlier age predicted higher distress later in adolescence [ 44 ]. Additionally, Hildebrand and colleagues reported more internalizing and externalizing problems in children and adolescents with lower levels of resilience [ 45 ].…”