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This article reports on an examination of the psychometric properties of the 28-item Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-28). Methods: Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's a, t-tests, correlations, and multivariate analysis of variance were applied to data collected via interviews from 593 at-risk adolescents (12-17 years) to identify the factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, and floor and ceiling effects of the CYRM-28. Results: A four-factor structure was identified comprising two contextual factors, individual and family factors. The CYRM-28 and its factors show good internal reliability, stable test-retest properties, and no floor or ceiling effects. The measure also showed good construct validity. Discussion: The CYRM-28 shows good overall validity on this group of New Zealand youth, and researchers and social workers can have some confidence in its usefulness as a measure that can be used to assess resilience in youth from a range of ethnic backgrounds.

This article draws on the findings of the qualitative phase of a New Zealand longitudinal study on vulnerable young people's transitions to adulthood. The young people were aged between 12 and 17 years at the time of the first interview. The paper focuses on one key finding, how youth enact agency through their relationships with significant others: families, social workers, teachers and care workers. These youth had experienced sustained exposure to harm including abuse, violence, addictions, disengagement from school and mental health issues. The qualitative interviews focused on young people's experiences with services (child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health and education support services) their key transitions, and the strategies they used to locate support and resources. The thematic analysis of the interviews indicated that a search for agency was a central motif in young people's experiences. This was reflected in three thematic clusters: making sense of the world, having a voice and acting on the world.

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Summary This article explores young people’s experiences of service use and their life experiences, including exposure to harmful events and environments, such as abuse, violence, addictions, disengagement from school and mental health issues. It draws on the findings of a New Zealand study that used a mixed methods approach to investigate young people’s (aged between 13 and 17) experience of service use. These young people were multiple service users of statutory and non-governmental services including: child welfare services, juvenile justice services, remedial education services and mental health services. The first phase involved the administration of a survey (n = 605) and the qualitative phase (n = 109) used a semi-structured interview schedule to explore the service use experience of these young people. The qualitative interviews took place over 14 months which reflects the time it took to locate the young people and complete interviews. This article briefly reports on the quantitative phase and then focuses on a key finding from the qualitative phase, service engagement. Findings The findings identified the resources and strategies young people used to mitigate the effects of harmful events and environments in order to achieve their goals. The study produced rich accounts of service encounters: what was positive in these encounters and the barriers to successful engagement with services. Key themes focused on what happens for young people when there is confusion about service provision and when provision is intermittent. The findings emphasise the important role of social workers in creating positive service encounters for young people. Applications The findings underline the importance of the relationship between social workers and their clients as a foundation for successful interventions. It reiterates the need for social workers to take the time to understand young people’s contexts and how young people make sense of these contexts.

Schools are often the only formal service provider for young people living in socio-economically marginalized communities, uniquely positioning school staff to support positive psychosocial outcomes of youth living in adverse contexts. Using data from 2,387 school-going young people [Canada (N = 1,068), New Zealand (N = 591), and South Africa (N = 728)] living in marginalized communities and who participated in the Pathways to Resilience study, this article reviews how student experiences of school staff and school contexts moderated contextual risks and facilitated resilience processes. Findings of these analyses affirm that school staff play an important role in moderating the relationship between resilience resources and community/family risk in both global North and global South contexts. Findings hold important implications for school psychologists, including the need to champion the ways in which teachers can scaffold resilience resources for young people through the quality of the relationships they build with students.