Abstract
Resilience is a life skill that is developed through the handling of stress with positive patterns of coping. It is important to understand the interplay of risk and protective factors in the development of resilience in children.
Research has shown that the chances of developing behavioural problems increase with the number of risk factors that a child experiences. The risk factors considered in this study were: low income, alcohol abuse by the mother or the father, marital dissatisfaction, depression in the primary caregiver (usually the mother), large family size, teenage pregnancy, hostility in the parent-child relationship, divorce of parents and a learning disability in the child. A risk index was constructed for each six and ten year old child in the survey. Only four per cent of children experienced four or more risks in their lives. Children not exposed to any risk factors showed a rate of difficult behaviours of approximately 10 per cent while children exposed to four or more risk factors had a rate five times higher, about 50 per cent.
Although children exposed to multiple risks in their lives have a high chance of developing behavioural problems, protective factors often buffer them and reduce the odds of such behaviours. Children who lived in stressful environments, but had close affectionate relationships, seemed to be able to cope with the difficulties they face. Their levels of problem behaviours were comparable to those for children living in low risk environments. In the absence of good relationships with people other than parents - i.e., siblings, teachers, and peers -children in multiple risk situations showed high levels of difficult behaviours.
The number of good relationships children had was found to correlate strongly with resilience. Among six-year-olds, one good relationship was as advantageous as three in moderating the chances of developing externalizing behaviours such as conduct disorder, hyperactivity, inattention and indirect aggression. For ten-year-olds, more than one good relationship was necessary for a protective effect.
Stressful situations may be more critical for boys than girls. Boys were less likely than girls to form close relationships and they were also more likely to exhibit externalizing behaviours. For girls, friendships played a protective role at both high and low risk. Both boys and girls were protected by good sibling relationships. Though a good relationship with a teacher was more common among girls than boys, the relationship was important for boys at all levels of risk but only in high risk situations for girls.
The quality of children's social relationships is critical in allowing them to deal with stresses in their lives. The study points to the need for a focus on relationships in any intervention or prevention strategies for children and families in high risk situations. Furthermore, because children with behavioural difficulties are not likely to recover spontaneously, it is important to intervene early before the problem is entrenched.
What's New
