Trends in resilience research are shifting from identifying characteristics of children who are resilient in the face of adversity to identifying processes that promote resilience under normative conditions. The authors examined the potential for different associations of two correlates of resilience (self-worth and coping) with a third (personality dimensions). Specifically, the authors used cluster analysis to identify three discrete personality profiles using data from 181 11th-grade students (48% male, 78% White). Discriminant function analysis was then used to investigate the association of these three personality profiles with two variables that have characterized resilient youth: self-worth and coping. Consistent with prior research, the combination of being extroverted, agreeable, and open to new experiences was associated with high self-worth. Additionally, positive coping was also associated with compensatory mechanisms for adolescents who were high on disagreeableness and emotional instability. These findings suggest that there may be different compensatory mechanisms operating for adolescents with different personality profiles.
This study was a survey of 402 parents of gay and lesbian children from the northeastern, southern, midwestern, and western regions of the United States. Of particular interest was parental response to the knowledge of their child's homosexuality and the AIDS outbreak. Although parents suffered emotional upset upon learning of their children's homosexuality, many progressed through a five-stage grief process that ended with acceptance. Fear of the spread of AIDS, that their offspring might contract AIDS, or that their child might suffer from the backlash related to AIDS were concerns for most parents. Attitudes toward AIDS were not very different between mothers and fathers. However, older parents were more likely to have more positive attitudes toward AIDS than younger parents, and liberal parents were more likely to have a more positive outlook than their conservative counterparts.
Adolescent satisfaction in family rituals and psychosocial development (E. Greenberger & A. B. Sorenson, 1974) were explored in the context of adolescent personality characteristics (International Personality Item Pool, 1999) and family environment characteristics (S. M. Gavazzi, M. J. Reese, & R. M. Sabatelli, 1998; D. H. Olson et al., 1983). Data were collected from 159 female undergraduates with the Adolescent Satisfaction in Family Rituals Scale (D. G. Eaker & L. H. Walters, 1999). Family ritual satisfaction was positively related to late adolescent psychosocial development and mediated the relation between family boundaries and psychosocial development. Furthermore, the relation between personality (measured as discontentedness, an aspect of neuroticism) and satisfaction with family rituals was found to be mediated by family boundaries in preliminary analyses. These results suggest that the relevance of family ritual experiences to adolescent psychosocial development is in part a function of an individual's personality and the family environment.
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