Resilience as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Negative Life Events and Psychological Well-Being

The relatively young field of positive psychology serves to redirect the focus of common psychological investigation and intervention on factors that deplete well-being, toward characteristics and experiences that promote happiness and well-being (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Two features that have been consistently associated with measures of psychological well-being are resilience and negative life events (Avey et al., 2010; Shonkoff et al., 2012). The current study examined the relationship between negative life events, well-being, and resilience. Specifically, the study was designed to determine if resilience mediates the relationship between negative life events and psychological well-being among emerging adults. Participants were 325 college students (166 women; 158 men) who independently completed an online assessment comprised of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Inventory of College Students’ Recent Life Experiences (ICSRLE), and Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being (RSPWB). A cross-sectional and correlational design was implemented to analyze the data. Results indicate that the study’s main variables were related in the expected directions and that resilience partially mediated the relationships between negative life events and the six indices of well-being. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed