Shifting and persisting in the face of life stressors: consequences for adolescent health

Abstract

The current study assessed whether greater use of shift-and persist strategies, which entail the reappraisal of stressors (shifting) and endurance through optimism and meaning-making (persist), buffered the associations between life stressors and adolescents’ psychological health (i.e. depressive symptoms and anxiety) and physical health and health behaviors (i.e. self-rated health and sleep quality). Survey data were drawn from a racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of 750 9th grade adolescents (53% female). Path analysis revealed racial discrimination, neighborhood risk, and deportation exposure were linked to poorer psychological and physical health, while socioeconomic disadvantage was related to less anxiety but poorer physical health. Some evidence suggested that shift-and-persist may be protective-reactive, wherein shift-and-persist typically promoted well-being across health domains but more so when the life stressors were at low versus high levels. Shift-and-persist strategies promote both mental and physical health, but the promotive effects appear to be maximized when adolescents’ exposure to life stressors is minimal.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Aprile D. Benner, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge grants from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; K01HD087479) to the first author (NSF 1551954) and from NICHD to the Population Research Center at UT Austin (P2CHD042849). Opinions reflect those of the authors and not necessarily those of the granting agencies.