Mediating Mechanisms of Spiritual Resilience in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Background: Adolescents and young adults face complex developmental challenges that shape their well-being and sense of purpose. While positive spiritual experience is recognized as a resource, spiritual struggle, characterized by feelings of abandonment and punishment by God, is not a well-understood construct in the youth resilience literature. Objective: Guided by the Resilience Portfolio Model, this study examined the mediating role of meaning and purpose and social support on the relationship between spiritual struggle and life satisfaction in a community-based sample of youth. Methods: Using a descriptive cross-sectional design, we tested parallel mediation models in adolescents (n = 131) and young adults (n = 198). Standardized NIH PROMIS measures were used to evaluate Life Satisfaction, Meaning and Purpose, Emotional Support, Family Relationships, and Peer Relationships. Spiritual experiences were measured using the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality. Data were analyzed using Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Model 4) with bootstrapping. Results: Multiple regression and parallel path analyses revealed a significant developmental pivot. For young adults, a significant indirect association of spiritual struggle on life satisfaction was fully mediated by meaning and purpose and emotional support; no significant mediation was found in the adolescent cohort. Meaning and purpose emerged as a direct predictor of life satisfaction across both cohorts. Conclusions: Findings demonstrate that spiritual struggle is mediated differently across cohorts, highlighting a distinct developmental pivot in how youth navigate this experience. The findings emphasize the need for further longitudinal research and developmentally appropriate interventions to preserve youth’s assets against existential distress.