Factors Linked To Resilience In Teens

Recently in attempts to better understand mental illness, mental health profession­als have identified certain factors that help protect individuals from illness such as depression. Resilience factors, or things that help people stay healthy in the presence of risk factors (Kaufman, 2000), may prevent a depressive episode from occurring or pre­vent depression from getting worse. Resilience has been defined as the "ability to perse­vere and adapt when things go awry" (Reivich, K. & Shatte, A., 2002). However, if resil­ience is offset by substantial risk factors (for example, a strong family history of depres­sion), your teen may still get depressed. On the positive side, though, resilience factors can improve coping and recovery from the illness. They may even reduce the risk of recurrence. Therefore, they are still important to keep in mind, and to enhance if pos­sible. Research has identified the following as resilient factors for depression

• Feeling cared for by at least one other person;
• Parents get along reasonably well and are relatively consistent in relation to how they deal with the teen (expectations and limits set by each parent are similar);
• Adults model a positive perspective on situations;
• Social connections (i.e., the teen has friends);
• The opportunity to learn from life sometimes;
• A coherent system of values/meaning;
• Temperamental "fit" with the family is reasonable (for example, a highly athletic teen may feel out of place in a family of sedentary academics, and vice versa);
• Routines and clear rules at home;
• Authoritative parenting (basically, setting clear limits but in a thoughtful way that takes the child's feelings and developmental needs into account, providing explanations when needed, and allowing more input from the child with greater maturity).



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