How common is resilience? A growth mixture modelling analysis of well-being trajectories after disability onset in later life.

The onset of functional disability is a hallmark event of ageing, often provoking a process of adaptation. While resilience, here defined as maintaining a stable level of well-being, is viewed as central to successful ageing, its high prevalence following major health events in later life remains subject to considerable debate, and has been described as an artefact of modelling and measurement choices. This paper examines to what extent different adaptation trajectories can be distinguished following the onset of functional disability across multiple dimensions of well-being and assesses how modelling choices shape their identification. Using the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), individuals who developed persistent limitations in activities of daily living were examined in a growth mixture modelling framework to identify distinct trajectories for three well-being dimensions (life satisfaction, quality of life and depressive symptoms), and compared to matched controls to ensure that trajectories are attributable to the health shock. Three trajectories emerged for life satisfaction and quality of life, with resilience as modal response (86.5% and 78.7%, respectively). For depressive symptoms, four trajectories were identified, with resilient and chronic patterns observed in comparable proportions (43.4% each). Greater disability severity predicted a recovery trajectory, whereas pre-existing functional limitations and socioeconomic disadvantage were associated with chronic and improving pathways, both marked by low pre-onset well-being. These findings indicate that resilience is a common but not uniform reaction to functional health loss, underscoring the need for multidimensional outcomes and careful modelling to understand adaptation to disability in later life.