Theories Of Resilience

In order to develop resilience children and young people need firm foundations including; Trusting relationships, Structure and rules ,Good role models,

Some children may have a better disposition/character that may make them gain resilience a little easier, for those that don't have such an 'easy' nature, they may need a little more help to gain pse skills to help them build up their

“Resilience: The Biology of Stress and Science of Hope” (2016), is a documentary corelating adverse childhood events (ACE) and chronic medical condition like heart disease and diabetes (Resilience trailer, 2016). Childhood trauma and toxic stress changes a person physically and emotionally (Lee, 2016). On November 29, 2017, I had the pleasure of attending a showing of the film ‘Resilience’ and the panel discussion which followed. The panel consisted of five community leaders discussing the impact of ACEs and the work being done to address the problem. The panel included: Joan Caley MS, ARNP-CNS, CNL, NEA, BC of ACES Action Coalition, Jill McGillis of Clark County Juvenile Justice, Michelle Welton outreach manager for Catholic Charities Refugee Services Program Support, Jonathan Weedman CCTP, LPC the director of operations population health partnerships for Care Oregon, and Sandy Mathenson EdD director of social –emotional learning for Battle Ground Public Schools. The speakers received about fifteen minutes to discuss their respective work and agencies. In this brief review, I will summarize the discussion and deliberate the effectiveness of the presentation method.

Over decades, the research of resilience has developed from understanding individual’s resilience qualities and protective factors, to the process of resilience and the interventions that promote resilience (Richardson, 2002; Wright et al., 2013). Recently, the focus of resilience shift to the neurobiological process because of the development of science and technology (Wright et al., 2013). While these literatures emerging, there are two noteworthy issues. First, the outcome of the studies were mainly emphasized on main-stream population (Ungar, 2006). Second, little attention was given to resilience across cultures (Ungar, 2006; Ungar et al., 2005). Hence, it is important to investigate how resilience is being defined and understand in different cultures; what are the challenges when conducting a cross cultural research; and what are the key elements when implementing intervention in different cultures.

Resilience is often an indicator of future success as an adult and can help to protect children against emotional and behavioural problems etc

Leaving children in an environment that puts them at risk for social emotional developmental problems has become a controversial issue among child protection workers. In cases where children witness violence there is no proof that they will all turn out to be resilient rather the children will be affected. Although resiliency does exist and a number of children who witness IPV have been able to develop without severe emotional problems that affect them directly however they may lead to the internalizing of problems (Holmes,

Their aim was to test resilience and examine it between the violence and aggression of middle school and high school students. They claim that bullying has a huge effect on kids in schools and that some may cope and deal with it differently depending on the support and feeling of belonging at school and within their homes. They had 373 students grades 7-10, 54% were girls, 53% were White, 26% were Hispanic, and 56% were economically disadvantaged. Aggression, victimization, perceived family and school connectedness and demographic variables were measured in the study. Results showed that over time there was a decline in aggression due to the resilience process the kids had gone through over time and the closeness they had with their families as they got older. It also showed that the more a child felt they belonged in their school and the more they had the feeling of being protected and supported it compensated for the negative and lowered the aggression rates.

From research it is quite clear that the individual as well as various environmental aspects play an important role in influencing well-being as a whole. Research suggests that increased levels of emotional stress can often coincide with increasing issues in the family, peer groups and in the school. In addition, a child’s resilience and ability to cope with these issues can be affected by their personal

This shows that behaviour problems such as; increased aggression and hostility and early attachment insecurity for children who have experienced stressful life events.

1. How do “effortful control” and “affiliativeness” relate to positive outcomes in children and how do they relate to the “theory of resiliency?” Are these approaches sufficient?

In a study on toddlers and preschoolers (Lieberman, Van Horn, Grandison, & Pekarsky, 1997) used the dyadic approach of parent-child intervention and assessed the parent-child functioning along with their relationship. Other research has noted this approach in working with the parent-child with notable outcomes (Lieberman, Van Horn, Grandison & Pekarsky, 1997; Cohen, Mannarino, Murray & Igelman, 2006; Ziegler & Weidner, 2006; Graham-Beermann et al, 2007.) This psychotherapy approach is also influenced by attachment theory and has been noted to be promising (Lieberman, Van Horn, Grandison & Pekarsky, 1997). On the other hand Gewirtz and Edleson (2007) noted that some children develop successfully, performing at least as well as their low risk peers across a variety of domains. The children have been labeled competent, resilient and even invulnerable (Gewirtz & Edleson, 2007). There is a correlation to resilience found when a child has a good parent-child relationship and good assets (Gewirtz & Edleson, 2007).

Vulnerability and resilience among children continues to be a popular topic in research of developmental psychology. The two definitions are closely tied together as they are considered both sides to the spectrum. Schaffer (2006) defines vulnerability and resilience “as the susceptibility to develop malfunctioning following exposure to stressful life events, as opposed to the capacity to maintain competent functioning stress”. If stressful life events are the trigger here, why is it that some children are far more vulnerable, yet others are more resilient? The three studies discussed in this paper will attempt to explain why these differences occur and what can we do to enhance protective factors.

The resilience methodology seeks to build on strengths and strengthen the supports and opportunities of the child. Resilience plays a vital role in assisting a child in settling into a new placement, without experiencing major emotional difficulties. Three factors that promote resilience are secure base, Self-esteem and Self-efficacy(Grotberg, 2000). These can be influenced by positive experiences on a daily basis, some which will be highlighted throughout the assignment.

The concepts of (1)pruning, (2)bonding, and (3)attachment, all play an important role in brain development. The concepts of (4)protective factors moderating the negative effects of certain (5)risk factors where demonstrated to be important in keeping the child on the right path of development. The effectiveness and importance of (6)learning through various visual and audio methods was another concept presented that was found to be important to child development. The concept of (7)balancing emotion and cognition was also demonstrated to be important in child development. The concept of (8)family-based, coping-focused, interventions promoting resiliency in ethnically diverse families was also demonstrated to be instrumental in child development.

If children continue to live in a hostile or violent environment, the maladaptive behaviour they are presenting may be, as Shields and Cicchetti (2001) argue, regarded as a survival mechanism. This pattern will be hard to break, and more adaptive behaviour will be hard to justify in the minds of children, if they continue to live with a constant threat. If no external parental or communal maltreatment is identified, then children need to learn to develop skills and find more adaptive ways of dealing with problems that arise in interactions with others. Without resolving any existing external contributing factors to the development of the child’s maladaptive emotional regulation, efforts to implement more adaptive strategies may be in vain as they will not make sense in the reality that the child lives with everyday.