Resilience following child maltreatment: A review of protective factors
01 May 2011-The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (Canadian Psychiatric Association)-Vol. 56, Iss: 5, pp 266-272
TL;DR: Findings from resilience research needs to be applied to determine effective strategies and specific interventions to promote resilience and foster well-being among maltreated children.
Abstract: Objective:Child maltreatment is linked with numerous adverse outcomes that can continue throughout the lifespan. However, variability of impairment has been noted following child maltreatment, maki...
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TL;DR: Whether services should prioritise interventions that mitigate developing certain psychiatric disorders following childhood abuse requires further review and higher-quality meta-analyses for specific outcomes and more empirical studies on the developmental pathways from childhood sexual abuse to later outcomes are necessary.
275 citations
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: The report offers policy-makers a preventive approach based on strong evidence and shared experience to support them in responding to increased demands from the public to tackle child maltreatment and makes compelling arguments for increased investment in prevention and for mainstreaming prevention objectives into other areas of health and social policy.
203 citations
TL;DR: The protective factors that had the best empirical support were found to be education, interpersonal and emotional competence, control beliefs, active coping, optimism, social attachment, external attribution of blame, and most importantly, support from the family and the wider social environment.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: This review article summarizes empirical research on resilience in survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) and discusses protective factors that are associated with adaptive functioning in spite of sexual victimization. METHODS: A literature search to identify studies published up to November 2013 was performed within the databases PsycINFO, MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, and PSYNDEXplus. Additional relevant studies were retrieved using a snowball technique. A total of 37 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final sample. RESULTS: In the studies included in this review, the percentage of CSA survivors who were found to have a normal level of functioning despite a history of sexual abuse ranged from 10% to 53%. The protective factors that had the best empirical support were found to be education, interpersonal and emotional competence, control beliefs, active coping, optimism, social attachment, external attribution of blame, and most importantly, support from the family and the wider social environment. CONCLUSIONS: Preventive and clinical interventions for survivors of CSA should utilize psychoeducation and cognitive strategies that are adapted to the developmental level of the victim and that seek to enhance social support from significant others. Future research should focus on longitudinal research designs considering resilience rather as a dynamic process with multiple dimensions in a social and developmental context. Language: en
201 citations
Cites background from "Resilience following child maltreat..."
...The reviews of resilience after child maltreatment in general (Afifi & MacMillan, 2011; Haskett et al., 2006; Heller et al., 1999; Herrman et al., 2011) looked at a number of possible protective factors that were not included in the primary studies in our CSA-specific review: personality traits,…...
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...…good parental relationships, spousal support, and absence of maternal depression or substance abuse are associated with fewer behavioral problems and better psychological well-being in maltreated children (Afifi & MacMillan, 2011; Haskett et al., 2006; Heller et al., 1999; Herrman et al., 2011)....
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...Several authors have highlighted the importance of separately considering specific subtypes of child maltreatment (Afifi & MacMillan, 2011; Heller et al., 1999), since the association between exposure to maltreatment and psychosocial outcomes may vary according to the nature of the maltreatment....
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...…specifically at protective factors following CSA (Dufour et al., 2000), but there are several on resilience following child maltreatment in general (Afifi & MacMillan, 2011; Haskett, Nears, Sabourin Ward, & McPherson, 2006; Heller, Larrieu, D’Imperio, & Boris, 1999; Walsh, Dawson, & Mattingly,…...
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...…flexibility, social attachment, positive self-concept, emotional regulation, positive emotions, spirituality, active coping, hardiness, hope, resourcefulness, and adaptability are associated with resilience (Afifi & MacMillan, 2011; Haskett et al., 2006; Heller et al., 1999; Herrman et al., 2011)....
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TL;DR: Interventions that improve individual, family, and/or social support resilience factors may reduce the risk of psychopathology following childhood adversity and single vs. multiple resilience factor models supported the notion that resilience factors should not be studied in isolation, and that interrelations between resilient factors should be taken into account when predicting psychopathology after childhood adversity.
Abstract: Background: Up to half of Western children and adolescents experience at least one type of childhood adversity. Individuals with a history of childhood adversity have an increased risk of psychopathology. Resilience enhancing factors reduce the risk of psychopathology following childhood adversity. A comprehensive overview of empirically supported resilience factors is critically important for interventions aimed to increase resilience in young people. Moreover, such an overview may aid the development of novel resilience theories. Therefore, we conducted the first systematic review of social, emotional, cognitive and/or behavioral resilience factors after childhood adversity. Methods: We systematically searched Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus (e.g., including MEDLINE) for English, Dutch, and German literature. We included cohort studies that examined whether a resilience factor was a moderator and/or a mediator for the relationship between childhood adversity and psychopathology in young people (mean age 13-24). Therefore, studies were included if the resilience factor was assessed prior to psychopathology, and childhood adversity was assessed no later than the resilience factor. Study data extraction was based on the STROBE report and study quality was assessed with an adapted version of Downs and Black's scale. The preregistered protocol can be found at: http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.asp?ID=CRD42016051978. Results: The search identified 1969 studies, of which 22 were included (eight nationalities, study sample n range: 59-6780). We found empirical support for 13 of 25 individual-level (e.g., high self-esteem, low rumination), six of 12 family-level (e.g., high family cohesion, high parental involvement), and one of five community-level resilience factors (i.e., high social support), to benefit mental health in young people exposed to childhood adversity. Single vs. multiple resilience factor models supported the notion that resilience factors should not be studied in isolation, and that interrelations between resilience factors should be taken into account when predicting psychopathology after childhood adversity. Conclusions: Interventions that improve individual, family, and/or social support resilience factors may reduce the risk of psychopathology following childhood adversity. Future research should scrutinize whether resilience factors function as a complex interrelated system that benefits mental health resilience after childhood adversity.
184 citations
TL;DR: Emotional abuse emerged as the main independent predictor of psychiatric symptomatology - over and above other maltreatment types - and this effect was comparable for males and females (i.e. no significant interaction with sex).
184 citations
Cites background from "Resilience following child maltreat..."
...Nevertheless, understanding the causes of heterogeneity in individuals’ responses to maltreatment continues to represent an important challenge for researchers and practitioners alike (Afifi & Macmillan, 2011)....
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References
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TL;DR: This article found that negative life experiences and stressful happenings may serve to precipitate mental disorders, and that a variety of stressors may play a role in the genesis of psychiatric disorder.
Abstract: Almost since the beginnings of psychiatric practice, there has been a recognition that negative life experiences and stressful happenings may serve to precipitate mental disorders (Garmezy & Rutter, 1985). Nearly 200 years ago, Pinel wrote about the psychiatric risks associated with unexpected reverses or adverse circumstances, and it is reported that his initial question to newly admitted psychiatric patients was: “Have you suffered vexation, grief or reverse of fortune?” Nevertheless, although an appreciation that a variety of stressors may play a role in the genesis of psychiatric disorder has a long history, the systematic study of such effects is much more recent.
3,248 citations
TL;DR: For example, this article found that exposure to multiple types and repeated episodes of maltreatment is associated with increased risks of severe maltreatment and psychological consequences, which has longlasting effects on mental health, drug and alcohol misuse (especially in girls), risky sexual behaviour, obesity, and criminal behaviour.
3,034 citations
DOI•
01 Jan 1980
TL;DR: For what now approaches 30 years, Block et al. as mentioned in this paper investigated the implications of two personality parameters they have chosen to call ego-control and ego-resiliency, and evaluated their behavioral relevance in a wide range of experim ental situations.
Abstract: For what now approaches 30 years, we have been thinking about and
investigating the implications of two personality parameters we have chosen
to call ego-control and ego-resiliency. We began while graduate students at
Stanford, many eras ago. Reasoning from the constructs as we then
understood them, we sought to evaluate their behavioral relevance in a wide
range of experim ental situations and psychological tests-response
extinction in a partial reinforcement context, norm establishment while
experiencing movement in an autokinetic situation, performance in the
Gottschaldt Embedded Figures Test, reactions to authority, divergent
thinking, level of aspiration, reactions to stress, psychological fatigue or
sa tia tio n , percep tual s tan d ard s o f sim ilarity , e thnocen trism —all
administered to the same group of college students. Our dissertation results
(J. Block, 1950; J. H. Block, 1951; J. Block& J. H. Block, 1951; J. H. B lock*
J. Block, 1952) were encouraging: In diverse areas of psychology-learning,
perception, interpersonal behaviors, attitudes, problem solving-the
observed individual differences (often considered then to be no more than
“nuisance variance”) were frequently, reliably, and lawfully related to the
personality constructs we had formulated. Especially powerful as a predictor
was a composite variable generated by summing the behaviors of an
individual over a variety of phenotypically diverse but conceptually related
experimental situations (J. Block, 1950, Chapter 10).
1,723 citations
TL;DR: The existence of strong clustering among childhood adversities and lifetime co-morbidity among adult disorders means that caution is needed in interpreting the results of previous single-adversity single-disorder studies as documenting unique effects of specific Childhood adversities on specific adult disorders.
Abstract: Background. Survey data are presented on the associations between retrospectively reported childhood adversities and subsequent onset and persistence of DSM-III-R disorders. Methods. Data come from the US National Comorbidity Survey, a large survey of the US household population. Results. Twenty-six adversities were considered, including loss events (e.g. parental divorce), parental psychopathologies (e.g. maternal depression), interpersonal traumas (e.g. rape) and other adversities (e.g. natural disaster). These adversities were consistently associated with onset, but not persistence, of DSM-III-R mood disorders, anxiety disorders, addictive disorders and acting out disorders. Most bivariate associations with onset attenuated in models that controlled for clustering of adversities and for lifetime co-morbidities among psychiatric disorders. Multivariate effects of adversities in logistic models were additive, which means that they have multiplicative effects on probability of disorder onset. Adversities showed little specificity. An analysis of time decay showed that the effects of childhood adversities on disorder onset persist beyond childhood. Conclusions. The existence of strong clustering among childhood adversities and lifetime co-morbidity among adult disorders means that caution is needed in interpreting the results of previous single-adversity single-disorder studies as documenting unique effects of specific childhood adversities on specific adult disorders. Future studies need to assess a broader range of adversities and disorders and to explore the existence and effects of commonly occurring adversity clusters. Replication is needed to verify that the effects of childhood adversities are mostly on first onset rather than on the creation of vulnerabilities that lead to increased risk of persistence.
1,252 citations
TL;DR: A history of abuse in childhood increases the likelihood of lifetime psychopathology; this association appears stronger for women than men, and varied significantly by gender for all categories except for anxiety disorders.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The authors assessed lifetime psychopathology in a general population sample and compared the rates of five psychiatric disorder categories between those who reported a childhood history of either physical or sexual abuse and those who did not. METHOD: A modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and a self-completed questionnaire on child abuse were administered to a probability sample (N=7,016) of Ontario residents 15 to 64 years of age. RESULTS: Those reporting a history of childhood physical abuse had significantly higher lifetime rates of anxiety disorders, alcohol abuse/dependence, and antisocial behavior and were more likely to have one or more disorders than were those without such a history. Women, but not men, with a history of physical abuse had significantly higher lifetime rates of major depression and illicit drug abuse/dependence than did women with no such history. A history of childhood sexual abuse was also associated with higher rates of all disorder...
980 citations