Resilience and quality of life in chronically ill youth

Abstract

Background The goal of this article is to present some issues related to the concept of resilience and subjective quality of life of youth. This study was concerned with subjective quality of life, and the variables important for adaptation in the face of stress associated with illness, treatment and hospitalization. The assessment of psychological variables included social skills/competences, sense of self-efficacy, perceived social support, coping strategies, depression and subjective quality of life. Participants and procedure The study involved 154 participants (102 girls) aged 11-18, who were hospitalised with chronic illnesses. K-means cluster analysis allowed us to distinguish between three subgroups of youth, which were then compared in terms of the variables of interest. Results Among the participants there are well-adapted and resilient individuals, individuals of intermediate levels of adaptation and maladapted individuals (risk subgroup). These subgroups differ significantly in terms of psychosocial variables, coping strategies, depressive symptoms and subjective quality of life. Resilience co-occurs with adaptive coping strategies, low levels of depressive reactions and high quality of life. Conclusions Our results suggest the need to appreciate the role of protective factors for health and quality of life, and to facilitate the strengthening of the personal and social resources of less adapted individuals. It is important to take actions to help youths who fall into the risk group, who are vulnerable to abnormal adaptation processes and are at risk of further problems, affecting both their mental and somatic health.

Keywords

• chronic illness
• protective factors
• quality of life
• youth
• resilience