Developmental changes in resilience and life satisfaction during early adolescence

Abstract

Background. Early adolescence is a period characterized by huge changes in most aspects of adolescents’ development. The changes that occur between childhood and late adolescence are well documented. However, a closer look at the developmental changes within the specific period of early adolescence is needed. Methods. This work aims to study the developmental changes in resilience and life satisfaction in adolescents between the ages of 11.5 and 13. A five wave longitudinal study was performed with 497 adolescents (T1 mean age 11.52; T5 mean age 13.09; 59.4% of girls). Three subscales of the Adolescent resilience scale (novelty seeking, emotional regulation, positive future orientation) and the life satisfaction scale (6 life domains) were used. Findings. Linear mixed models with longitudinal data revealed the following results: a significant decrease in life satisfaction (F=30.11, p≤.000), novelty seeking (F=22.84, p≤.01) and orientation for future (F=43.09, p≤.000) with no interaction effect with gender. The significant level of the slope variance suggests between-subject differences in developmental trajectories for the studied variables. The negative covariance interaction suggests that the higher the initial levels for novelty seeking (Z=-3.16, p≤.01) and positive future orientation (Z=-3.41, p≤.01) reported by the respondents, the lower the decrease in time. Discussion. Both life satisfaction and resilience significantly decreased in a short period of development. It seems to be crucial to implement prevention programs for adolescents as soon as during early adolescence to promote their positive development.