PROMOTING PSYCHOLOGICAL RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF STRESS: THE COMBINED INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONING

Psychological resilience is influenced by affective and social processes. It is also generally recognized that the relationship between emotional and social functioning is reciprocal. Still, research on psychological resilience has largely investigated these processes independently. The current study sought to (1) identify naturally occurring groups of individuals based on indicators of emotional and social functioning utilizing a Latent-Profile Analysis, (2) examine whether profile membership is differentially associated with depression, and (3) examine whether the association between stress and depression varies as a function of profile membership. Undergraduates (N = 422) at a public, southeastern university completed self-report measures on perceived stress, depressive symptoms, family and peer relationships, emotion regulation strategies, and emotional intelligence. Results from the Latent-Profile Analysis, using emotion regulation, emotional intelligence, and family and peer functioning as LPA indicators, supported a three-profile solution of high, average, and low emotional and social functioning. Perceived stress was positively associated with depression. Individuals in the low functioning profile and in the average functioning profile, relative to the positive profile, reported higher levels of depressive symptoms. Profile membership moderated the association between perceived stress and depressive symptoms. Simple slopes analysis revealed the association between stress and depressive symptoms was attenuated for individuals in the high functioning profile relative to individuals in the low functioning profile. Results suggest affective and social processes may act together to impact psychological resilience and subsequent mental health.