Resilience as outcomes (domains) and processes (pathways, mechanisms)

Christine Wekerle, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology)Associate Professor, Pediatrics, McMaster University ([email protected])

Resilience as outcomes (domains) and processes (pathways, mechanisms)

Research Focus: Adolescents (age 14+) who are involved in the child welfare system; Maltreatment and Adolescent Pathways (MAP) Project (MAPS: MAP study)

Clinical focus: Violence and impairment prevention Youth Relationships Project (YRP; dating violence prevention, dating health promotion program; Manual – Wolfe et al, 1997; Evaluation – Wolfe et al,1997)

Populations of interest: Maltreated children, adolescents, and adults; homeless youth; Aboriginal adolescent health


Representative Recent Publications: – Wekerle et al., 2009. Impact of childhood emotional

maltreatment on teen dating violence. Child Abuse and Neglect: The International Journal

– Wekerle et al., 2009. Up Against the Wall report. (distributed by family violence clearinghouse)

– Wekerle et al., 2009. Chapter 6: Children and youth served by Ontario’s CAS in Looking to the Future: A Profile of Ontario’s Children and Youth.

(for a copy email [email protected])

MAPS Research specific to Resilience• Individual factors; child welfare system factors to look at

person-environment interactions


Conceptualizing Resilience• Why do some maltreated persons adjust and recover (i.e.,

innate human self-righting tendency) and others do not? Resilience is a trait, skill, process of individual interacting with environment (multiple contexts, systems)

• Individual-level – Adaptation to environment; coping with adversity; returning to baseline (pre-morbid) functioning; achieving at potential; non-problem/non-clinical performance in domains; developmentally-appropriate behaviours; in tact basic functioning (physical, emotional-behavioural regulation)– Sense of Mastery: optimism, self-efficacy, adaptability– Sense of Relatedness: trust, support, comfort, tolerance– Emotional Reactivity: sensitivity, recovery, impairment


Individual-level - Measurement Scales • Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM, Ungar et

al., 2008)• Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents (RSCA,

2006, Prince-Embury, available from www.psychcorp.ca)

http://www.psychcorp.ca/


Resilience as Trait, State, Outcome, Process

The way internal resources are matched with external resources: navigation, negotiation, availability/accessibility/use of resources, and luck?

System – level: • Children’s Aid Society (CAS) System Involvement

Social-level:• Socioeconomic status of family and adolescent• Perception of living environment and school safety• School bullying experiences• Dating violence experiences


Resilience-related results:


Summary of Resilience-Related References

Aboriginal youth: Zahradnik, M. et al., 2009. Knowledge translation in a community-based study of

the relations among violence exposure, post-traumatic stress, and alcohol misuse in Mi’kmaq youth. First Peoples Child and Family Review, 4, 106-107. Available on-line @ www.fncfcs.com.

Resilience Concept:Ungar, M. et al. (2007). Unique pathways to resilience across cultures.

Adolescence, 42, 287-310.

Resilience Measurement (Individual-level):Ungar, M. et al. (2008). The study of youth resilience across cultures: lessons from

a pilot study of measurement development. Research in Human Development, 5, 166-180.

Prince-Embury, S. (2006). Resilience scales for children and adolescents.. www.psychcorp.ca

http://www.fncfcs.com/

http://www.psychcorp.ca/


References for diagram:(1) Mohapatra, S., Irving, H., Paglia-Boak, A., Wekerle, C., Adlaf, E., & Rehm, J. (2009).

History of family involvement with child protective services as a risk factor for bullying in Ontario schools. Journal of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Available online: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123227924/abstract

(2) Wekerle, C., Leung, E., MacMillan, H.L., Boyle, M., Trocmé, N., & Waechter, R. (2009). The contribution of childhood emotional abuse to teen dating violence among child protective services-involved youth. Journal of Child Abuse & Neglect, 33, 45-58.

(3) Goldstein, A., Leslie, B., Wekerle, C., Leung, E., & Erickson, P. (under review). A comparison of young women Involved with child welfare and those utilizing street youth services: Implications for the transition from care. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare.

(4) Wekerle, C., Leung, E., Goldstein, A., Thornton, T., & Tonmyr, L. (2009). Up against a wall: Coping with becoming a teen. (Substance use among adolescents in child welfare versus adolescents in the general population: A comparison of the Maltreatment and Adolescent Pathways (MAP) longitudinal study and the Ontario Student Drug Use Survey (OSDUS) datasets). London, ON: University of Western Ontario.

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123227924/abstract


Other References:

(1) Wekerle, C., Waechter, R., Leung, E., & Chen, M. (2009). Chapter 6: Children and youth served by Ontario’s Children’s Aid Societies. In Profile of Ontario’s Children and Youth, Ontario Ministry of Children & Youth Services Internal Policy Document

(2) Waechter, R. L., Wekerle, C., Leslie, B., Goodman, D., Wathen, N., Moody, B., & the MAP Research Team. (2009). Child protection services and university-based partnerships: A participatory action-based model for creating and sharing knowledge. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 4(2), 118-128

(3) Wolfe, D. A., Wekerle, C., & Scott, K. (1997). Alternatives to violence: Empowering youth to develop healthy relationships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

Health & Medicine

Resilience as outcomes (domains) and processes (pathways, mechanisms)