Psychological resilience and childhood maltreatment : The role of self-efficacy, personality functioning and social support in young adult residential care leavers

Abstract

Background: Although the psychopathological consequences of childhood maltreatment (CM) are widely acknowledged, less is known about the underlying pathways of resilience following CM. Recent work to harmonize operationalization and definition of resilience quantifies resilience as the residual variance in psychosocial functioning after accounting for adversity exposure. Objective: This study investigates the association of self-efficacy, personality functioning, and social support with residual resilience after CM in young adults with previous youth residential care placements in Switzerland. Methods: The psychological resilience of 189 young adults (M age = 26.18 years; SD = 3.01; 35 % women) was evaluated as the residual of the regression of childhood maltreatment on mental health problems. Multiple regression models were conducted to assess the association between residual resilience and self-efficacy, personality function, and social support. A multiple regression model with an individual composite score of self-efficacy and personality functioning was used to investigate the importance of individual and social factors in resilience. Results: The severity of CM was significantly associated with self-reported mental health problems, β = 0.37; p < .001. Residual resilience was significantly associated with self-efficacy, β = 0.33; p < .001, and impaired personality functioning (self-direction, β = −0.63, p < .001, empathy, β = −0.39, p < .001, intimacy, β = −0.37, p < .001, identity, β = −0.51, p < .001). However, it was not significantly associated with social support, β = 0.10; p = .14 in regression models testing individual predictors. In combined models, the individual composite score was more strongly associated with residual resilience than the social support. Conclusion: Personality functioning and self-efficacy are crucial for psychological resilience following childhood maltreatment. They represent important targets for preventive interventions in youth residential care and therapy programs for those who experienced maltreatment in childhood.