Adaptive systems for student resilience in the context of COVID-19.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a disaster, defined as an event that suspends normal activities and threatens or causes severe, community-wide damage (Masten & Motti-Stefanidi, 2020). While all school children and their families have been impacted by COVID-19 to some degree, the burdens are disproportionately being borne by children experiencing poverty and children from minority racial and ethnic groups. In this article, we consider resilience and risk in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic by focusing on children's developing adaptive systems. When adaptive systems are functioning well, most children will demonstrate resilience to disaster. The capacity of children's adaptive systems to function well depends upon their developmental histories and the social and community resources available to them. We discuss how these factors contribute to children's adaptation and close with recommendations for communities looking to support resilience to the varied adversities of COVID-19. Impact and ImplicationsAll students are impacted by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to some degree, but the impact is greater for children from disadvantaged groups like those experiencing poverty and from racial and ethnic minority groups. Resilience for students at risk is possible when they have the internal and external resources they need. This article describes how those resources develop and how broader communities and services can bolster resources to enable resilience for disadvantaged students in the context of COVID-19.

Using an Intersectional Lens on Vulnerability and Resilience in Minority and/or Marginalized Groups During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review

“…Such approach to teaching was equivalent to invisibility of social resilience in diverse ethnic/racial groups ( Mahon and Mahon, 2021 ), colorblindness ( Jones et al, 2021 ), and lack of community cohesion or connection to traditional practices ( D’Amico et al, 2020 ). This effect was even more pronounced in social groups with low socio-economic status as illustrated in the United States context ( Herbers et al, 2021 ). COVID-19 measures, such as distance learning, deprived schools and education systems of additional benefits, such as nurturing relationships and routines ( Herbers et al, 2021 ), interactions, sense of community, and a potential room for cultural connection and motivation for learning ( Mahon and Mahon, 2021 ).…”

“…This effect was even more pronounced in social groups with low socio-economic status as illustrated in the United States context ( Herbers et al, 2021 ). COVID-19 measures, such as distance learning, deprived schools and education systems of additional benefits, such as nurturing relationships and routines ( Herbers et al, 2021 ), interactions, sense of community, and a potential room for cultural connection and motivation for learning ( Mahon and Mahon, 2021 ). This increased the potential vulnerability of some groups.…”

“…Thus, hardship and disruption due (but not limited) to COVID-19 affected those with low income and ethnic or racial minority groups more often. Schools or other formal educational systems provided children with positive and nurturing relationships, which Herbers et al (2021) also referred to as adaptive systems. Due to restrictions in accessing these systems, particularly at the onset of the pandemic, children in less nurturing environments may have been exposed to even more disruptions.…”

“…Thus, support by the community had various effects: it strengthened individuals in the community by providing them with resources, and it increased self-efficacy in individuals offering support to others. Resilience was experienced as a person-by-context interaction from a United States perspective ( Herbers et al, 2021 ), thus highlighting that the context and the environment are detrimental in an individual’s display or activation of resilience. A United States study also showed that optimism and resilience as traits were beneficial, as these characteristics buffered the impact of loss of resources on mental health in the elderly and chronically ill people ( McElroy-Heltzel et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Such collective trauma is experienced differently by diverse groups across countries (e.g., Canada, United States, and Arabic countries) and exacerbates the feelings of vulnerability or threat ( Diaz et al, 2021 ; Kira et al, 2021 ; Waruszynski et al, 2021 ). Additional stressors, such as murders of members of the Black and people of color community, further impede a sense of safety and contribute to the history and transgenerational trauma in the community, as shown by an example from the United States ( Herbers et al, 2021 ). Vulnerability must be understood with its historic roots that are noticeable in today’s social inequality.…”