TY - JOUR
T1 - Differential susceptibility theory: might it help in understanding and treating mental health problems in youth?
AU - Assary, Elham
AU - Krebs, Georgina
AU - Eley, Thalia
N1 - Funding Information:
Our colleague Dr Rob Keers sadly died on July 5th 2020. Rob was an exceptional person, not just bright and creative but also an incredibly kind and supportive colleague and mentor. One of the main themes of his growing research programme was the exploration of differential susceptibility in young people, and the potential for this approach to inform personalised interventions in the future. The idea to use identical twin differences to explore this was entirely his. The fellowship he was awarded by the Medical Research Council to test this idea resulted in the findings described in Keers et al. (2016). He subsequently gained funding from the Wellcome Trust to further test this hypothesis, work being completed in his absence now. Despite his life and career being cut so short, we feel he is someone who made a significant contribution to the field of child psychology and psychiatry, and we dedicate this review to his memory.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
PY - 2023/7/7
Y1 - 2023/7/7
N2 - Diathesis-stress models conceptualise individual differences in propensity for psychopathology as an interaction between environmental risk factors and intra-individual vulnerabilities. In contrast, the differential susceptibility theory and related frameworks view intra-individual differences as variations in sensitivity to the environments rather than merely vulnerability to them. Specifically, they suggest that more sensitive individuals are more affected by the quality of their context, whether positive or negative, than others who are less sensitive. Empirical research over the last two decades has found support for this notion in that greater sensitivity is associated with a greater risk of psychopathology in adverse contexts, but also with lower risk in positive environments. However, despite growing academic and public interest in this field, it is currently unclear to what extent the differential susceptibility model is relevant, or applicable, to clinical practice. The purpose of this review is to focus on the differential susceptibility theory as an alternative explanation of individual differences in mental health and examine its relevance in the treatment of mental health problems in young people. We provide an overview of differential susceptibility and related theories, and current relevant research in the field. We identify potential implications of differential susceptibility models for understanding and treating mental health problems in young people, whilst also highlighting important gaps in research that limit their application at present. Finally, we suggest directions for future research that will assist in the translation of differential susceptibility theories into clinical practice.
AB - Diathesis-stress models conceptualise individual differences in propensity for psychopathology as an interaction between environmental risk factors and intra-individual vulnerabilities. In contrast, the differential susceptibility theory and related frameworks view intra-individual differences as variations in sensitivity to the environments rather than merely vulnerability to them. Specifically, they suggest that more sensitive individuals are more affected by the quality of their context, whether positive or negative, than others who are less sensitive. Empirical research over the last two decades has found support for this notion in that greater sensitivity is associated with a greater risk of psychopathology in adverse contexts, but also with lower risk in positive environments. However, despite growing academic and public interest in this field, it is currently unclear to what extent the differential susceptibility model is relevant, or applicable, to clinical practice. The purpose of this review is to focus on the differential susceptibility theory as an alternative explanation of individual differences in mental health and examine its relevance in the treatment of mental health problems in young people. We provide an overview of differential susceptibility and related theories, and current relevant research in the field. We identify potential implications of differential susceptibility models for understanding and treating mental health problems in young people, whilst also highlighting important gaps in research that limit their application at present. Finally, we suggest directions for future research that will assist in the translation of differential susceptibility theories into clinical practice.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85153596404&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13801
DO - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13801
M3 - Review article
SN - 0021-9630
VL - 64
SP - 1104
EP - 1114
JO - Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
JF - Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
IS - 8
ER -
