Resiliency from Violent Victimization for People with Mental Disorders: an Examination Using a Community Sample

Researchers have established that people with mental disorders are at an elevated risk to experience a victimization event when compared to the general population, and several risk factors related to victimization for this population have been identified. Despite this knowledge, there is little known about potential factors that may protect this population from such experiences. In other words, what is currently missing in the literature is the assessment of why, despite elevated risk, some persons with mental illness are not victimized — a phenomenon known as resiliency. Using the National Comorbidity Study-Adolescent Supplement data, protective factors that promote resiliency from victimization are explored. Results indicate that domains of protective factors related to social support and domains of protective factors related to institutions are significantly associated with resiliency from victimization for people with mental disorders. Theoretical implications and future research are discussed.