Test correlates of stress resilience among urban school children

Parker, Gayle R.; Cowen, Emory L.; Work, William; Wyman, Peter A.

doi:10.1007/bf01324859

Cited by 98 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…For example, data within a longitudinal study of young abused children (Farber & Egeland, 1987) indicated that despite their good adaptive behaviors, many apparently invulnerable children did not seem to be emotionally healthy. Similarly, in a study comparing stressresistant and stress-affected school-age children, the resilient group did not show the advantages on self-rated depression and anxiety levels, which they did on behavioral indices of social competence (Parker, Cowen, Work, & Wyman, 1990). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Vulnerability and Resilience: A Study of High-Risk Adolescents

1991

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Factors that allow children to maintain socially competent behaviors despite stress were examined among 144 inner-city ninth-grade students with a mean age of 15.3 years. Stress was operationalized by scores on a negative life events scale, and definitions of social competence were based on peer ratings, teacher ratings, and school grades. Moderator variables examined included intelligence, internal locus of control, social skills, ego development, and positive life events. Following theoretical models by Garmezy and Rutter, distinctions were made between compensatory factors (which are directly related to competence) and protective/vulnerability factors (which interact with stress in influencing competence). Ego development was found to be compensatory against stress. Internality and social skills proved to be protective factors, while intelligence and positive events were involved in vulnerability processes. This study also revealed that children labeled as resilient were significantly more depressed and anxious than were competent children from low stress backgrounds.Faced with life stresses, many children develop psychological difficulties, while others function well. Children in the latter group, labeled "resilient" or "stress resistant," defy expectation by developing into well-adapted individuals. The primary aim of this investigation was to explore variables that promote resilience, that is, that allow children to remain competent despite exposure to stressful life experiences.The phenomenon of resilience was examined among inner-city adolescents. Much of the previous research has been conducted with preadolescent and younger children Garmezy, Masten, & Tellegen, 1984;Masten et al., 1988;Werner & Smith, 1982) or with young adults (Quinton, Rutter, & Liddle, 1984;Werner, 1989). This study sought to determine whether variables identified as being protective at different ages served ameliorative functions during adolescence as well. Selection of an inner-city sample was based on findings of higher rates of adolescent behavior problems (e.g., juvenile delinquency) among underprivileged populations (Farrington, 1987;Snyder & Patterson, 1987). Epidemiological data such as these underscore the need for research on stress resistance among disadvantaged teenagers.Operational definitions of the two central constructs embedded within the major research question, that is, stress and competence, were based on earlier research in the area. Two © 1991 by the Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved. Requests for reprints should be directed to Suniya Luthar, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, 27 Sylvan Avenue, New Haven, CT 06519. approaches have commonly been used in operationalizing stress. One of these, termed the "life events method,' involves the use of self-report measures to obtain a count of stressful life events encountered in the recent past O'Grady & Metz, 1987). An alternative strategy has been to examine the separate effects of individual life stresses that are "ob...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Vulnerability and Resilience: A Study of High-Risk Adolescents

1991

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“…These include self-esteem (Fergusson & Lynskey, 1996;Parker, Cowen, Work, & Wyman, 1990;Werner & Smith, 1982), self-efficacy (Rutter, 1987;Sinclair & Wallston, 2004), optimism (Connor & Davidson, 2003;Segerstrom, Taylor, Kemeny, & Fahey, 1998;Taylor & Seeman, 1999), and self-mastery (Cederblad et al, 1994). These variables have consistently been associated with better health and reduced distress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of resilience on psychological adjustment and physical health in patients with diabetes

Vitaliano

Smith

et al. 2008

British J Health Psychol

194

143

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Objective-This study used a longitudinal design to investigate the buffering role of resilience on worsening HbA 1c and self-care behaviours in the face of rising diabetes-related distress.Method-A total of 111 patients with diabetes completed surveys and had their glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA 1c ) assessed at baseline and 1-year follow-up. Resilience was defined by a factor score of self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-mastery, and optimism. Diabetes-related distress and selfcare behaviours were also assessed.Results-Baseline resilience, diabetes-related distress, and their interaction predicted physical health (HbA 1c ) at 1-year. Patients with low, moderate, and high resilience were identified. Those with low or moderate resilience levels showed a strong association between rising distress and worsening HbA 1c across time (r=.57, .56, respectively). However, those with high resilience scores did not show the same associations (r=.08). Low resilience was also associated with fewer self-care behaviours when faced with increasing distress (r= −.55). These correlation coefficients remained significant after controlling for starting points.Conclusion-In patients with diabetes, resilience resources predicted future HbA 1c and buffered worsening HbA 1c and self-care behaviours in the face of rising distress levels.Healthcare providers benefit from the knowledge and understanding of associations between psychosocial and physiological variables in patients with chronic illness. These associations can further inform treatment, prevention, and intervention protocols through a biopsychosocial perspective. In diabetes patients, a holistic view of disease can aid the prevention of a variety of debilitating physical complications that can result from consistently poor self-care behaviors and high glycosylated hemoglobin levels.One well-known correlate of poor glycemic control and self-care is diabetes-related psychological distress (Polonsky, Anderson, Lohrer, Welch, & Jacobson, 1995Weinger & Jacobson, 2001). Reducing diabetes-related distress has been successful through intensive, educational, or cognitive behavioral interventions (see Welch, Weinger, Anderson, & Polonsky, 2003, for review). Less is known about the personal factors that encourage successfully coping with rising levels of diabetes-related distress. Rising distress levels may accompany a diabetes patient at any stage of disease. For example, Shaban, Fosbury, Kerr, and Cavan (2006) report significant prevalence rates for moderate to severe depression and anxiety in type 1 patients living with diabetes for many years. Due to the extensive, daily nature of * Requests for reprints should be addressed to Joyce P. Yi, Ph.D., University of Washington, Department of Psychology, Box 351525, Seattle, WA 98195 USA. jyi@u.washington.edu. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptBr J Health Psychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 July 8. diabetes self-care, feeling "burned out" or overwhelmed is a risk for patients at any stage of their disease. However, psycho...

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“…However, this term suggests that there has been no cost to the child of the exposure to risk, as if the child were unscathed by the risk factors. Some work has suggested that children labeled as "resilient", who appeared healthy or competent despite experiences of risk, were using internalizing strategies to cope with risk, and these children were more likely to experience anxiety or depression [12,19,20].…”

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confidence: 99%

Child development: Vulnerability and resilience

Engle

Castle

Menon

1996

Social Science & Medicine

130

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Alrstraet--Many of the challenges facing children now are a function of changing times, including increase in urbanization, political violence, changing family forms, and in some areas decreased supplies of adequate food. This review focuses particularly on those changes in which children are the victims and which induce new threats for them, rather than on problems such as child disability or mental illness. The outcome variables of interest in this paper are dimensions of children's psychosocial development, including cognitive development, psychological adjustment and aggression, whereas the companion paper in this issue (Caldwell P., Child survival: vulnerability and resilience in adversity in the European past and the contemporary Third World, Soc. Sci. Med.) [1] focuses on physical aspects of children's development. The risks that are hurdles in the process of development of a young child begin from conception and carry on into later life. To address them all would be impossible; thus, in order to do justice to the issues at hand, we have chosen those risks that, in our view, are important in a child's psychosocial development in developing countries. This paper will thus provide a discussion of the concepts of risk and resilience, then apply these concepts to the analysis of three examples of risk faced by children today: nutritional threats (e.g. malnutrition due to decline in breastfeeding); family dynamics and types of family forms (e.g. child fostering and non-traditional families); and experiences of violence (domestic or political). In each case, the same four questions will be addressed: what are the consequences of the risk factor for children, what are the etiologies and conditions of risk, are there any children who seem to cope with the risk factor successfully and what are some of the protective factors, and what interventions or programs would help support these children?

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Test correlates of stress resilience among urban school children

Cited by 98 publications

References 29 publications

Vulnerability and Resilience: A Study of High-Risk Adolescents

Vulnerability and Resilience: A Study of High-Risk Adolescents

The role of resilience on psychological adjustment and physical health in patients with diabetes

Child development: Vulnerability and resilience

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