Background: Understanding the resilient factors and why some children do well despite early adverse experiences is crucial, because it can inform more effective policies and programs that help more children reach their full potential.
Aim: The main objective of the study is to describe the associations between psychological abuse in childhood and resilient risk factors on individual, relational, contextual level among adolescents in the country and see the probability of resiliency to predict psychological victimisation.
Material and method: Cross-sectional study on two-stage quota sample of 622 university students was applied in the study, including adolescents at first and second year at the main public Ss Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, from the 12 faculties in the country. Adverse Childhood Experiences Study International Questionnaires was used for collecting information on psychological abuse, while the individual, relational and contextual resilient factors were measured using the Child and Youth Resilience Measure - Youth version. The study was conducted from March to September 2017. Statistical significance was set up at P < 0.05.
Results: The results from the study have shown statistically significant negative correlation between exposure to psychological abuse in childhood and individual (rpb = -0.159), relational (rpb = -0.263), contextual factors (rpb = -0.147), and resilience in total (rpb = -0.232). The regressive model presents that 5.2% of the variance of the variable experienced psychological abuse is explained with resilience (F(1, 527) = 28.909; P < 0.001), showing that resilience is negatively significant predictor for being psychologically abused in childhood (β = -0.228; t = -5.377; P < 0.001). The regressive model explains the individual contribution of the predictor variables for the psychological abuse, presenting that only caregiver resiliency is a significant predictor for psychological abuse (β = -0.282; t = -4.986; P < 0.001).
Conclusion: Supporting children through prevention means foster competence and prevent problems. Preventive programmes represent developing protective factors in childhood, increasing competence and skills for the growth of resilience and decreasing the likelihood of developing psychopathology in adolescence and adulthood. It is of common interest of society for implementation of evidence-based interventions with fostering settings and in the long run enabling positive childhood basis for future generations.
Keywords: adolescents; psychological abuse; resilience; risk factors.