The Change in Trait Resilience Predicts the Alleviation of Transdiagnostic Depressive Symptoms in Outpatient Adolescents: The Mediating Role of the Change in Psychological Inflexibility/Experiential Avoidance.

This study examined how the change in trait resilience, an increasing tendency to effectively cope with challenges and flexibly adapt to stress, affected the change in transdiagnostic depressive symptoms over 6 months of clinical follow-up among outpatient adolescents, and the role of psychological inflexibility/experiential avoidance (PI/EA), characterised by rigid and avoidant emotion regulation, in this association. Trait resilience was measured with the Brief Resilience Scale, PI/EA with the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II and depressive symptoms with the Beck Depression Inventory-IA. Questionnaires were completed at baseline and on 6-month follow-up by 337 study participants. Paired sample t-tests were conducted to measure the change in the scale scores. Linear regression was used to assess the impact of the change in trait resilience on the change in depressive symptoms. Mediation analysis was performed to investigate the role of the change in PI/EA in the association between the change in trait resilience and the change in depressive symptoms. The change in trait resilience predicted the change in depressive symptoms, which was mediated by the change in PI/EA. Assessment of trait resilience and interventions focused on reducing PI/EA are suggested for the alleviation of transdiagnostic depressive symptoms in outpatient adolescents.