Patterns of Depression and Resilience in Children and Adolescents Exposed to an Earthquake: A Latent Profile Analysis

Abstract

Objective Depression and resilience are different psychological outcomes caused by experiencing traumatic events. We aimed to 1) explore heterogeneity patterns of co-occurrence between depression symptoms and resilience among children and adolescents exposed to an earthquake and 2) assess covariates (trauma exposure, sex, age, ethnicity, and sleep quality) in identifying the best fitting solution. Methods Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to examine patterns of self-reported depression and resilience in an epidemiological sample of 2,887 Chinese youth survivors 1 year after the Lushan earthquake. Results A suitable 3-class model were identified, which are mild depression/high resilience (65.0%), severe depression/high resilience (22.1%), and severe depression/low resilience (12.9%). Trauma exposure, demographic characteristics and sleep state can be used to identify the different latent classes. Conclusion Our results contribute to understanding the heterogeneous coexisting patterns of depression and resilience and provide suggestions for identifying high-risk youth survivors and offering effective interventions.