Trajectories of resilience over 25 years of individuals who as adolescents consulted for substance misuse and a matched comparison group.

AIMS: To examine trajectories of resilience over 25 years among individuals who as adolescents received treatment for substance misuse, the clinical sample (CS) and a matched general population sample (GP).

DESIGN

Comparison of the CS and GP over 25 years using Swedish national registers of health care and criminality.

SETTING

A substance misuse clinic for adolescents in an urban area in Sweden.

MEASUREMENTS: Resilience was defined as the absence of substance misuse, hospitalizations for physical illnesses related to substance misuse, hospitalization for mental illness and law-abiding behaviour from ages 21 to 45 years.

PARTICIPANTS

The CS included 701 individuals who as adolescents had consulted a clinic for substance misuse. The GP included 731 individuals selected randomly from the Swedish population and matched for age, sex and birthplace.

FINDINGS: A total of 52.4% of the GP and 24.4% of the CS achieved resilience in all domains through 25 years. Among the CS, another one-third initially displayed moderate levels of resilience that rose to high levels over time, one-quarter displayed decreasing levels of resilience over time, while 9.3% showed little but improving resilience and 8.8% showed no resilience. Levels of resilience were associated with the severity of substance misuse and delinquency in adolescence.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals who had presented substance misuse problems in adolescence were less likely to achieve resilience over the subsequent 25 years than was a matched general population sample, and among them, four distinct trajectories of resilience were identified. The severity and type of problems presented in adolescence distinguished the four trajectories.