Domain-specific and multidomain resilience among parentally bereaved youth: Assessment and associations with long-term outcomes

This study addressed the prevalence of resilience within specific domains (domain-specific resilience) and across multiple domains (multidomain resilience), as well as the predictive value of resilience for long-term outcomes. Using data from 244 parentally bereaved youth ages 8 - 16 who completed multiple assessments over 15 years in a randomized preventive intervention trial, we examined resilience trajectories across 10 outcomes in five domains on which bereaved youth are at risk, assessed over 14 months. Resilience was defined as low, stable problems or high, stable competencies across assessments; and multidomain resilience as the number of outcomes on which there were resilient trajectories. Results showed that resilience was generally common within specific domains, though its prevalence varied across multiple domains. Multidomain resilience followed a near-normal distribution, with few people having no domain on which they are resilient or being resilient across all domains. Several domain-specific resilience trajectories and multidomain resilience predicted multiple outcomes 15 years after baseline.