Unpacking the Antecedents and Consequences of Resilience to Socioeconomic Risks: Changes From Mid- to Late Adolescence

Poverty-related risks exact detrimental effects on young people’s development, highlighting the need to understand the processes through which youth sustain resilience. This study examined the proximal contextual antecedents and developmental consequences of socioeconomic risk and resilience in middle (ninth grade) and late adolescence (12th grade). Using survey data from a large longitudinal study ( N = 738; 54% female; 42% White, 32% Latino/a/x, 12% biracial or multiracial, 8% Asian, and 6% Black), youth were classified as above or below the 75th percentile on socioeconomic risk and psychological resilience, yielding four risk and resilience groups: (a) high-risk and high-resilience, (b) low-risk and high-resilience, (c) high-risk and low-resilience, and (d) low-risk and low-resilience groups. In middle adolescence, the school and family contexts were particularly salient for distinguishing risk and resilience groups; however, by late adolescence, the family context remained the only consistent resource differentiating resilient youth. In middle adolescence, youth who were resilient in the face of economic stress had better mental and physical health than their less resilient peers. In contrast, socioeconomic risk regardless of resilience was problematic for academic achievement. In later adolescence, only the advantages in mental health persisted for youth resilient in the face of socioeconomic risk. Findings from the current study highlight potential targets in proximal contextual resources to improve supports for youth experiencing socioeconomic disadvantages.