Resilience and its external determinants: cross-sectional survey and network analysis of parenting, trauma and stress in college students

Background Compared with well-studied internal adaptive systems, there remains a lack of comprehensive exploration of external correlated factors of resilience, as well as the way in which each ingredient of resilience is influenced. Aims This study aims to explore the dimensional associations among resilience and several factors, including parenting rearing style, childhood trauma and negative life events. Method A series of social demographic variables, parental rearing patterns, childhood trauma, negative life events and resilience were assessed. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore correlated factors of resilience, with all the above factors included in the model. Network analysis was conducted to identify the central factor and key associations, and to visualise complex interactions among resilience, parenting rearing style, childhood trauma and negative life events. Results This cross-sectional study was conducted among 4302 freshmen (2388 females, 55.5%; mean 18.59; s.d. = 0.95) from three colleges between October and December 2020. Three key associations were discovered: ‘learning pressure and emotional control’ ( r = −0.195, P < 0.05), ‘emotional neglect and family support’ ( r = −0.129, P < 0.05) and ‘maternal care family support’ ( r = 0.193, P < 0.05). ‘Emotional abuse’ (bridge expected influence, −0.588) was the core node of the estimated network. Conclusions This study found that learning pressure, emotional neglect and maternal care emerged as the most critical external correlates of resilience. Emotional abuse occupies the most central position in the external correlated network of resilience. Future longitudinal research should clarify the temporal impacts of these associations, and the key factors, in the dynamic resilience system.