Identifying Trajectories of Ego-resiliency in Adolescents: An Analysis of Data from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2010

Purpose: This study aimed to identify latent classes of ego-resiliency trajectories in adolescents and investigate predictors of latent classes based on the ecological systems theory. Methods: This study used data from the first, second, and fourth to seventh waves of the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2010. The subjects included 1,793 adolescents. The data were analyzed using latent class growth analysis in Mplus 8.3 and multinomial logistic regression in SPSS 26.0. Results: The trajectories of ego-resiliency in adolescents were classified into four groups; increasing, decreasing, persistently moderate, and persistently poor. The predictors of the ‘increasing’ group were male gender, higher self-esteem, lower depression, lower parental behavior, and higher perceived community. The predictors of the ‘decreasing’ group were higher self-esteem, higher scores for relationships with friends and teachers, and higher perceived community. The predictors of the ‘persistently poor’ group were lower self-esteem, higher depression, lower annual income, lower scores for relationships with friends, and lower perceived community. Conclusion: We identified predictors for a persistently poor ego-resiliency trajectory. We suggest providing effective interventions for latent classes of ego-resiliency in adolescents based on the ecological environments.