Risk Factors Affecting the Psychological Resilience of Adolescents in Institutional Care: A Systematic Review

Background: Psychological resilience is defined as the resilience capacity and the power to recover in the face of stressful life events. Adolescents in institutional care have different individual, familial, and environmental risk factors that negatively affect their psychological resilience. This study aimed to comparatively examine studies that detect the risk factors affecting the resilience of adolescents living in institutional care and make recommendations regarding initiatives or specific outcomes related to this.

Methods: This study systematically reviewed national and international literature databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, Medline, CINAHL, EBSCO host, Psychinfo, Cochrane Library, Turkish Ulakbim, Turkish Medical Directory, and Turkish Psychiatry Directory up to December 2021. Fourteen studies were included in this study.

Results: Many significant risk factors, such as adolescents’ interpersonal relationships, selfconfidence, self-esteem, self-efficacy levels, problem-solving skills, empathy skills, as well as parental abandonment, domestic violence, socioeconomic poverty, a history of abuse, peer rejection, lack of social support resources, and low academic performance, have been identified and discussed at individual, familial, and environmental levels.

Conclusion: Adolescents in institutional care were more vulnerable and had more mental and behavioral problems than their peers. This systematic review found no studies evaluating preventive programs, interventions, or interventions designed to reduce the frequency and prevalence of future adverse events for children growing up in institutional care settings. Recommends the comprehensive inclusion and evaluation of preventive programs, practices, and assessments aimed at reducing the frequency and prevalence of risk factors affecting resilience.

Cite this article as: Turgut Atak N, Bebiş H. Risk factors affecting the psychological resilience of adolescents in institutional care: A systematic review. Psychiatry Clin Psychopharmacol. 2024;34(3):252-264.