The Relationship Between Development Trajectories of Resilience and Social Support Systems Among Early Adolescents: Applications of Latent Class Growth Analysis and Multiple-Group Growth Mixture Modeling

Abstract

Objectives Resilience is characterized by the ability to change over time and may increase or decrease in adolescence depending on available social support factors. In this study, we investigated trajectories of resilience and how these longitudinal patterns of resilience are related to changes in social relationships over time. Methods This longitudinal study analyzed 4,299 early adolescents from waves 3-6 (sixth year of elementary school to third year of middle school) of the Seoul Education Longitudinal Study (SELS). A latent class growth analysis (LCGA) was conducted to empirically demonstrate latent development trajectories of adolescents’ resilience, and growth mixture model with known class was created to describe the relationship between resilience development trajectories and longitudinal change in social support systems (parent relationships, teacher relationships, peer relationships). Results First, the developmental patterns of adolescents’ resilience varied over time; a total of six latent development trajectories were identified. The initial values of resilience by latent group were distributed over a wide range (high, middle-high, middle, middle-low, and low) and rate of change showed various patterns (decrease, decrease-increase, increase, and increase-decrease). Second, the patterns of change in social relationships (parents, teachers, peers) were similar to those of the resilience development trajectories. Third, among the three dimensions of social support, peer relationships showed the most similar patterns of change over time compared with other resilience development trajectories. Conclusions Based on the results of this study, differentiated interventions are required depending on the latent development trajectories of resilience, and adolescents should be provided with various opportunities to establish positive relationships with parents, teachers, and peers. Keywords: resilience, social support systems, latent class growth analysis, multi-group growth mixture model