Resilience of adolescents, though weakened during pandemic-related lockdown, serves as a protection against depression and sleep problems

Abstract

ABSTRACT Adolescents facing adversities are susceptible to depression and sleep problems. Resilience is an important protective mechanism for coping with adversity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents faced hardships including being pulled from their schools and being unable to socialize with friends during mandated lockdowns. We had three aims in this study. First, we sought to test whether Chinese adolescents’ resilience was strengthened, maintained, or weakened during the COVID-19 lockdown. Second, we sought to test whether adolescents’ resilience predicted depressive symptoms and in turn, sleep problems. Third, we sought to examine the role social support may play. In a partially-longitudinal survey study, we demonstrated via a within-subject t-test and its Bayesian equivalent that Chinese adolescents’ resilience weakened during the lockdown compared with before the pandemic. However, resilience remained an important predictor: A mediation model demonstrated that higher resilience was associated with fewer depressive symptoms, which in turn predicted fewer sleep problems. Moreover, we found that social support moderated this mediation: Strong social support reduced the negative effects of low resilience levels. These results help shed light on the fragility of resilience, its importance for adolescents’ mental health when facing adversity, and how we might support adolescents experiencing social distancing mandates or who are otherwise isolated from their peers.