A path to post-trauma resilience: a mediation model of the flexibility sequence

Background: Psychological resilience has grown in popularity as a topic of study in psychotraumatology research; however, this concept remains poorly understood and there are several competing theories of resilience. Objective: This study sought to assess the support for one proposed theory of resilience: the flexibility sequence. Method: This study use secondary data analysis of panel survey data (N = 563). Participants were aged 18 years or over and based in the UK. A series of sequential mediation models was used to test the flexibility sequence theory as a proposed pathway of resilience on mental health outcomes (post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression) among a trauma-exposed sample from the UK. Results: The 'feedback' component of the proposed flexibility sequence components was associated with reduced symptom severity with all outcomes, whereas 'context sensitivity' and 'repertoire' were significantly associated only with depression as an outcome. When indirect mediation pathways were modelled via the flexibility sequence, statistically significant effects were observed for all outcomes under investigation. Conclusions: These findings support the theorized flexibility sequence pathway of resilience, suggesting that the combination of these skills/processes performs more favourably as a framework of resilience than any in isolation. Further research into more elaborate associations and feedback loops associated with this pathway is warranted.