Resilience, Social Support, and Health in Emerging Adults With and Without Chronic Health Conditions

Abstract

Resilience and social support are important for emerging adults and especially those with chronic health conditions (CHC). We examined associations among resilience, social support, and health in those with and without a CHC. 132 emerging adults with a CHC and matched healthy participants completed questionnaires. Two-group, measuredvariable path analysis and mediational models were conducted. Those with a CHC had poorer resilience and health but equivalent social support. Resilience significantly predicted general health and emotional well-being. Resilience mediated the relationships between coping and health for healthy participants and between coping and emotional wellbeing in those with a CHC. Satisfaction with social support was significantly correlated with health, mediating the influence of network size on emotional well-being for those without a CHC and both physical functioning and emotional well-being for healthy participants. These results indicate the importance of resilience and social support for emerging adults, especially those with a CHC.