Social Skills and Creativity as Elements That Enhance Resilience in Adolescence

Abstract

Resilience plays a crucial role in overcoming the adversities and challenges faced by young people during adolescence. Current research focuses on understanding the factors that contribute to the development of resilience at this stage, with the goal of promoting the well-being and mental health of young people. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, we examined the relationship between social skills, creativity and resilience in a sample of 743 students aged 14 to 19 years from different educational centers in the province of Almería (Spain). We used the Social Skills Questionnaire (CHASO), the Turtle Creativity Questionnaire and the reduced resilience scale CDRISC-10 to collect data. Data analysis was performed using correlation analysis, Student’s t-test for differences according to sex, analysis of variance to test for differences according to resilience groups, multiple regression analysis for predictors of resilience and simple mediation analysis. The results showed a positive and significant relationship between social skills, creativity, and resilience. The differences found suggest that being male and having a higher level of resilience increases the likelihood of having higher social skills and resilience. Social skills and creativity predicted resilience and social skills mediated the relationship between creativity and social skills. These findings highlight the importance of strengthening social skills and promoting creativity to enhance resilience in adolescents, which may have practical implications for the design of intervention and support programs.