Abstract
Resilience factors (RFs) help prevent mental health problems after childhood adversity (CA). RFs are known to be related, but it is currently unknown how their interrelations facilitate mental health. Here, we used network analysis to examine the interrelations between ten RFs in 14-year-old adolescents exposed (‘CA’; n = 638) and not exposed to CA (‘no-CA’; n = 501). We found that the degree to which RFs are assumed to enhance each other is higher in the no-CA compared to the CA group. Upon correction for general distress levels, the global RF connectivity also differed between the two groups. More specifically, in the no-CA network almost all RFs were positively interrelated and thus may enhance each other, whereas in the CA network some RFs were negatively interrelated and thus may hamper each other. Moreover, the CA group showed more direct connections between the RFs and current distress. Therefore, CA seems to influence how RFs relate to each other and to current distress, potentially leading to a dysfunctional RF system. Translational research could explore whether intervening on negative RF interrelations so that they turn positive and RFs can enhance each other, may alter ‘RF-mental distress’ relations, resulting in a lower risk for subsequent mental health problems.
Highlights
The global network expected influence (EI) gives an indication of the degree to which Resilience factors (RFs) are assumed to enhance each other, which was significantly higher in the no-childhood adversity (CA) compared to the CA group (EICA = 2.950, EIno-CA = 3.394)
We found that the degree to which RFs enhance rather than hamper each other (‘global network EI’) was significantly higher in the not exposed to CA (no-CA) compared to the CA group
Differences between the CA and the no-CA groups seem to be underpinned by both differences in how RFs relate with each other, as well as by differences in how RFs relate to general distress
Summary
We will explore the impact of general distress levels on the network structures, through contrasting the CA and no-CA network structures after adding a general distress variable to the networks. Investigating potential group differences due to the influence of general distress on the network models: We will further scrutinize whether potential differences in CA and no-CA networks, upon taking distress levels into account, result from (1) corrected ‘RF-RF’ interrelations, (2) ‘RF-general distress’ interrelations, or (3) both
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