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. 2017 Aug;48(4):584-596.
doi: 10.1007/s10578-016-0684-x.

A Biopsychosocial Approach to Risk and Resilience on Behavior in Children Followed from Birth to Age 12

Sara Agnafors  1 , Carl Göran Svedin  2 , Lars Oreland  3 , Marie Bladh  4 , Erika Comasco  3 , Gunilla Sydsjö  4
Affiliations

A Biopsychosocial Approach to Risk and Resilience on Behavior in Children Followed from Birth to Age 12

Sara Agnafors et al. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2017 Aug.

Abstract

An increasing prevalence of mental health problems calls for more knowledge into factors associated with resilience. The present study used multiple statistical methodologies to examine a biopsychosocial model of risk and resilience on preadolescence behavior. Data from 889 children and mothers from a birth cohort were used. An adversity score was created by combining maternal symptoms of depression, psychosocial risk and children's experiences of life events. The proposed resilience factors investigated were candidate genetic polymorphisms, child temperament, social functioning, and maternal sense of coherence. The l/l genotype of the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region was associated with lower internalizing scores, but not mainly related to the level of adversity. An easy temperament was associated with resilience for children exposed to high adversity. Social functioning was found to be promotive independent of the risk level. The results support a multiple-level model of resilience indicating effects, though small, of both biological and psychosocial factors.

Keywords: Child; Genotype; Longitudinal; Mental health; Resilience.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Conceptual model of the study design. Promotive factors are hypothesized to impact the risk for behavioral problems in preadolescence in children exposed to early life adversity. 5-HTTLPR serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region, MAOA monoamine oxidase A, COMT catechol-o-methyl transferase, BDNF brain derived neurotrophic factor, SLE stressful life events, PPD postpartum depression
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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