NCJ Number
218923
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 31 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2007 Pages: 231-253
Date Published
March 2007
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study examined which individual, family, and neighborhood characteristics distinguished children with adverse outcomes from childhood abuse ("nonresilient") from children who functioned well despite being abused ("resilient").
Abstract
In a group of children who had been maltreated before being 5 years old, individual, family, and neighborhood characteristics were associated with the level of behavioral resilience. Boys, but not girls, who had above-average intelligence and whose parents had relatively few symptoms of antisocial personality were more likely to be resilient to maltreatment compared with those who were nonresilient. Children whose parents had substance-use problems and who lived in relatively high-crime neighborhoods with low social cohesion and informal social control were more likely to be nonresilient to maltreatment. Consistent with a cumulative stressors model of children's adaptation, individual strengths were related to resilience under conditions of low family and neighborhood stress; however, when family and neighborhood stress were high and persistent, individual strengths were apparently overwhelmed to produce significant adverse effects (nonresilience). Study data were obtained from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Study, which profiles a nationally representative sample of 1,116 twin pairs and their families. Families were visited at home when the twins were 5 and 7 years old. Teachers provided information about children's behavior at school. Interviewers rated the likelihood that children had been maltreated based on mothers' reports of harm to the child and child welfare involvement with the family. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 82 references