Multisystemic Resources Matter for Resilience to Depression

Learning From a Sample of Young South African Adults

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4619906
AutoresL Theron (0000-0002-3979-5782, University of Pretoria, autor de correspondencia), M Ungar (0000-0003-0431-347X, Resilience Research Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada), Kate Cockcroft (0000-0002-6166-8050, Department of Psychology, School of Human and Community Development at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa), Ansie Fouche (0000-0002-1896-6968, United Arab Emirates University)
Año2023
Volumen33
Número10
Páginas828-841
Fecha de publicación2023-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/10497323231182906
PMID37414738
OpenAlexW4383311654
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas35

This article interrogates the continuing emphasis on personal sources of resilience; it also amends the inattention to the protective factors and processes (PFPs) that support the mental health resilience of African emerging adults. To that end, we report a study that explored which PFPs distinguished risk-exposed South African 18- to 29-year-olds with negligible depression symptoms from those who reported moderate to severe symptoms. Using an arts-based approach, young people volunteered the PFPs they had personally experienced as resilience-enabling. An inductive thematic analysis of visual and narrative data, generated by young people self-reporting high exposure to family and community adversity ( n = 233; mean age: 24.63, SD: 2.43), revealed patterns in the PFPs relative to the severity of self-reported depression symptoms. Specifically, young people reporting negligible depression symptoms reported a range of PFPs associated with psychological, social, and ecological systems. In contrast, the PFPs identified by those reporting more serious depression symptoms were mostly restricted to personal strengths and informal relational supports. In the interests of youth mental health, the findings direct society's attention to the criticality of facilitating young people's access to a composite of resources rooted in personal, social, and ecological systems

Mental health · Psychiatry · Psychological resilience · Qualitative research · Social support · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Clinical Psychology · Health, psychology, and well-being · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology