Adolescent Resilience in the Face of Relentless Adversity: The Role of Strong, Black Women

Theron, Linda; Ungar, Michael

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-15367-0_5

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Socio-economic disadvantage is widespread (e.g., 26% of residents are unemployed; 24% of households own a computer; 36% own a car; 62.3% report no internet access) [ 40 , 41 ]. As in other parts of Govan Mbeki, and indeed SA [ 42 ], structural disadvantage and related protests (usually in response to poor service delivery and government corruption), characterise the RYSE-affiliated site [ 43 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Resilience to COVID-19-related stressors: Insights from emerging adults in a South African township

2021

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There is widespread recognition that stressors related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) jeopardize the development of emerging adults, more particularly those living in disadvantaged communities. What is less well understood is what might support emerging adult resilience to COVID-19-related stressors. In response, this article reports a 5-week qualitative study with 24 emerging adults (average age: 20) living in a South African township. Using digital diaries and repeated individual interviews, young people shared their lived experiences of later (i.e., month 4 and 7) lockdown-related challenges (i.e., contagion fears; livelihood threats; lives-on-hold) and how they managed these challenges. An inductive thematic analysis showed that personal and collective compliance, generous ways-of-being, and tolerance-facilitators enabled emerging adult resilience to said challenges. Importantly, these resilience-enablers drew on resources associated with multiple systems and reflected the situational and cultural context of the township in question. In short, supporting emerging adult resilience to COVID-19-related stressors will require contextually aligned, multisystemic responses.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many families in the RYSE-affiliated site embrace traditional African values of respectful interrelatedness or Ubuntu [ 28 , 43 ]. Ubuntu values emphasize that an African is not a rugged individual, but a person living within a community [ 44 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience to COVID-19-related stressors: Insights from emerging adults in a South African township

2021

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“…Most of them reside in eMba. In addition to housing around 120,000 people, eMba is challenged by structural disadvantage, rampant youth unemployment, and a degraded natural environment (Theron & Ungar, 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Typically, eMba youth are socialized to embrace traditional African values of respectful interrelatedness or ‘Ubuntu’ (Theron & Ungar, 2019). ‘Ubuntu’ teaches that “an African is not a rugged individual, but a person living within a community” (Mandidzidze & Kusemwa, 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multisystemic Resilience: Learning from Youth in Stressed Environments

2021

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Youth resilience is the product of multiple systems. Still, the biological, psychological, social, and environmental system factors that support youth resilience are incompletely understood. How these factors interact, and the situational and cultural dynamics shaping their interconnectedness, are also under-researched. In response, we report a multi-site case study that is instrumental to understanding multisystemic resilience. It draws on the insights of 52 youth from stressed, oil and gas communities in South Africa (13 young men; 8 young women; average age: 20.28) and Canada (19 young women, 12 young men; average age: 20.77). Deductive and inductive analyses show that youth resilience is informed by a biopsychosocial-ecological system of interacting resources that fit situational and cultural dynamics. This has implications for society’s championship of youth adaptation to stressed environments, including less emphasis on individual resources and more on contextually responsive, systemic changes that will facilitate meso- and macro-system resistance to significant stress.

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“…A review of studies spanning the years 2009–2017 of the resilience of South African children and adolescents showed that the most prominent resilience‐enablers were affective support (often by family) and relationally facilitated opportunities for growth and development (most often facilitated by a child’s extended family; Van Breda & Theron, 2018). The salience of relational support—particularly from family—to the resilience of South African adolescents highlights underlying collectivistic values of interdependence and intergenerational care that are imbedded in African culture (Phasha, 2010; Theron & Ungar, 2019). Relational support—particularly from family—was similarly prominent in resilience studies from other parts of sub‐Saharan Africa (e.g., Berckmoes, de Jong, & Reis, 2017; Betancourt et al, 2011).…”

Section: Resource Systems During Adolescence and The Influence Of Conmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Interrelations Between Systems of Support in 13‐ to 18‐Year‐Old Adolescents: A Network Analysis of Resilience Promoting Systems in a High and Middle‐Income Country

et al. 2021

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Adolescents' ability to function well under adversity relies on a network of interrelated support systems. This study investigated how consecutive age groups differ in the interactions between their support systems. A secondary data analysis of cross-sectional studies that assessed individual, caregiver, and contextual resources using the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (Ungar & Liebenberg, 2005) in 13-to 18-year-olds in Canada (N = 2,311) and South Africa (N = 3,039) was conducted applying network analysis. Individual and contextual systems generally showed the highest interconnectivity. While the interconnectivity between the individual and caregiver system declined in the Canadian sample, a u-shaped pattern was found for South Africa. The findings give first insights into cross-cultural and context-dependent patterns of interconnectivity between fundamental resource systems during adolescence. JH's position was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (P2ZHP1_184004). We are grateful for the valuable support in relation to the statistical analyses and graphics from Payton Jones.

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Adolescent Resilience in the Face of Relentless Adversity: The Role of Strong, Black Women

Cited by 10 publications

References 56 publications

Resilience to COVID-19-related stressors: Insights from emerging adults in a South African township

Resilience to COVID-19-related stressors: Insights from emerging adults in a South African township

Multisystemic Resilience: Learning from Youth in Stressed Environments

Investigating the Interrelations Between Systems of Support in 13‐ to 18‐Year‐Old Adolescents: A Network Analysis of Resilience Promoting Systems in a High and Middle‐Income Country

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