Risk and Resilience in the Transition to Adulthood: Risky trajectories but positive mental health outcomes among the UK Millennium Cohort

There are a number of risk factors that may lead to poor mental health outcomes for children and teenager's as they transition into adulthood, which can be characterised as individual attributes, family factors or wider contextual factors. The World Health Organisation (WHO) (2012) identifies individual attributes which are particularly pertinent during these years such as difficulties at school or substance use. Family related factors that increase the risk of mental health problems include negative experiences at home such as parental loss or abuse. Wider social circumstances such as low socioeconomic status may also increase the risk of having poor mental health (WHO 2012).
While much is known about the risk factors for poor mental health outcomes among children and adolescents, less is known about those who experience these risk factors but are nevertheless resilient to poor mental health outcomes. Resilience can be described as a process of positive adaption whereby an individual overcomes significant adversity in order to develop competencies (Schoon and Bynner 2003: 22). Previous research looking at the development of competencies more generally among disadvantaged children has identified three broad sets of variables that can operate as protective factors against negative life circumstances in favour of development: attributes of children themselves (e.g. doing well in school), characteristics of their families (e.g. supportive, interested in education etc), aspects of wider social context e.g. external support such as a teacher who recognised children's capabilities and invested (Schoon and Bynner 2003). This research project aims to use a life course framework, which considers the trajectories of individuals and the choices they make as embedded within, and contingent upon, the social context within which they are placed (Elder 1998). This will enable the identification of specific protective factors that occur at different levels for those who may be considered at risk of developing mental health issues yet maintain positive mental health.