Can resilience change over time? Patterns and transitions in resilience among young children involved with the child welfare system.

This study examined transitions in resilience profiles and the role of caregiver risk and protective factors in resilience transition probabilities over 18 months among children involved with the child welfare system, using latent profile analysis and latent transition analysis. The sample included 486 children (48% female, baseline Mage = 3.49). There were three resilience profiles at Time 1 (19.9% low emotional behavioral, 26.1% low cognitive, 54.0% multidomain) and two profiles at Time 2 (18.9% low emotional behavioral, 81.1% multidomain). Caregiver mental health problems were negatively associated with membership in the multidomain resilience group at Time 1. Higher levels of cognitive stimulation were associated with initial and continued membership in the multidomain resilience group. Implications for resilient child development are discussed.

Early childhood maltreatment and profiles of resilience among child welfare-involved children.

Given the high burden of child maltreatment, there is an urgent need to know more about resilient functioning among those who have experienced maltreatment. The aims of the study were to: 1) identify distinct profiles of resilience across cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social domains in young children involved in the child welfare system; and 2) examine maltreatment characteristics and family protective factors in relation to the identified resilience profiles. A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW-II). Latent profile analysis was performed on a sample of 827 children aged 3-5 years (46% girls, Mean age = 3.96). Three distinct resilience profiles were identified: 1) low cognitive resilience (24%); 2) low emotional and behavioral resilience (20%); and 3) multidomain resilience (56%). Caregiver cognitive stimulation, no out-of-home placement, higher caregiver education level, older child age, and being a girl were associated with the multidomain resilience profile. The findings provide empirical support for the multifaceted nature of resilience and suggest that practitioners need to help children achieve optimal and balanced development by assessing, identifying, and targeting those domains in which children struggle to obtain competence.

Health-Related Quality of Life among American Indian and Alaska Native People: Exploring Associations with Adversities and Psychosocial Strengths.

Identifying psychosocial strengths that support physical health can lead to better pathways to prevention and intervention. Relying on the resilience portfolio model as a conceptual framework, this study explores strengths in three domains (regulation, meaning making, and interpersonal) to identify promising protective factors to support physical health-related quality of life (P-HRQOL), controlling for prior exposure to adversity, age, and gender. This study uses data from four resilience portfolio model studies collected in the southern United States, combined to increase the number of people who identified as American Indian/Alaska Native. The sample included 147 people (M age = 28.5 years; SD = 16.26), of which 57 percent are female. The surveys collected data on adversities (polyvictimization, other adversities, county poverty), psychosocial strengths (psychological endurance, sense of purpose, religious meaning making, compassion, and community support), and P-HRQOL. The full model accounted for 24 percent of the variance in P-HRQOL, with strengths explaining more than twice as much variance as adversities (13 percent versus 6 percent). A sense of purpose showed the most promise for supporting P-HRQOL. Regarding implications, authors recommend exploring a wider range of protective factors that might improve resilience in Native communities. Several evidence-based pathways to meaning making, such as narrative and mindfulness, may improve health outcomes for Native people.

A Qualitative Exploration of Institutional Betrayals in Rural Communities: An Emerging Typology.

To explore individuals' personal narratives of perceived betrayals and injustices committed by institutions, their representatives, or other authority figures and discern in what spheres of life they commonly manifest. 157 adults from largely rural, low-income communities in southern Appalachia participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews that asked them to describe key points in their life experiences, including high points, low points, and turning points. These were reviewed for episodes of institutional betrayals. Interview transcripts were analyzed using a grounded thematic analysis. Participants mentioned numerous instances of betrayals that occurred from interactions with institutions or their representatives. These were grouped into four categories: professional betrayals involving mistreatment from an employer, health care provider, or other authority figure; professional-organizational betrayals where a professional perpetrator was able to get support from a problematic organizational culture; corporate malfeasance involving misdeeds by business entities; and systemic injustices involving the sociopolitical architecture of society. The findings identified a range of institutional betrayal experiences that were unnecessary, unwanted, intentional, and harmful. They could be distinguished by the type of perpetrators and often led to notable harms, including unwanted system involvement and unemployment. Although participants seldom explicitly mentioned the rural setting in their descriptions of institutional betrayal, it is likely that limited options for health care providers, schools, and other institutions exacerbated some harms. Institutional betrayals need to be considered in people's trauma dosage, their cumulative lifetime burden of trauma.

Identifying Women's Strengths for Promoting Resilience After Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence.

Guided by the Resilience Portfolio Model, this study examined strengths associated with well-being and post-traumatic growth (PTG) among women who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Participants were 109 Spanish women who were receiving specialized psychological services for IPV. They completed a survey on multiple indicators of strengths, subjective well-being, and PTG. The results indicated that PTG was positively correlated with well-being and all strengths. Univariate analysis comparing levels of PTG showed significant differences in all factors, except emotional regulation and optimism. Post hoc analyses revealed two patterns, with some strengths distinguishing across all levels of PTG, and others only discriminating the most resilient women (as indicated by PTG) from the rest. Multivariate analyses accounted for 42% of the variance in posttraumatic growth and 52% in well-being. The results suggest ways to promote well-being and resilience among victimized women.

The Association of Different Cyber-Victimization Types With Current Psychological and Health Status in Southern Appalachian Communities.

Research on cyber-victimization has primarily focused on cyberbullying conducted in urban and suburban (metropolitan) settings. We explore a range of cyber-victimizations, including financially motivated offenses and cyberbullying, and their associations with current psychological and health status in a nonmetropolitan sample from southern Appalachia. The forms of cyber-victimization were drawn from focus groups and interviews, and then self-report data on 14 types of cyber-victimization were collected from 478 individuals (57.1% female; age M = 36.44, SD = 16.61). Approximately 3 out of 4 participants (74.7%) reported experiencing at least one cyber-victimization. Cyber-victimization made many participants feel "very upset" (average 55.7%). Many forms of cyber-victimization were associated with elevated trauma symptoms, and lower subjective well-being and health-related quality of life. Cyber-victimization is common in this southern Appalachian community, with financially motivated incidents leading to higher prevalence rates than found in many other studies. In these data, numerous specific types of victimization, including cyber-theft, fraud, and legal-but-intrusive privacy invasions, were associated with worse psychological and physical health. More research is needed on technology-mediated victimization and these types of victimization should be more routinely included in violence assessments.

Health-Related Quality of Life among Adolescents as a Function of Victimization, other Adversities, and Strengths.

PURPOSE: Most children are exposed to violence (e.g., peer, family, or community violence), which makes children's exposure to violence one of our most urgent social problems. The objective of this project was to examine health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a vulnerable community sample and identify promising psychological and social protective factors to promote HRQOL in youth. DESIGN AND METHODS: The sample was 440 youth ages 10 to 21 (average age 16.38, SD = 3.04), recruited from youth-serving organizations. Participants completed a survey on HRQOL, victimization, other adversities, and a range of 16 psychological and social strengths. RESULTS: Almost 9 in 10 (89.3%) youth reported at least one victimization during their lifetime, and impaired HRQOL was common, with more than half reporting some health impairment in the month prior to the survey. Although all psychological and social strengths were positively correlated with HRQOL at the bivariate level, hierarchical regression indicated that a sense of purpose and recovering positive affect uniquely contributed to better HRQOL, after controlling for victimization, other adversities, poverty, age, and gender (total R2 = 0.21). Strengths accounted for more variance in HRQOL than did adversities. CONCLUSIONS: In this highly victimized sample of youth, many strengths were associated with improved HRQOL for youth, with sense of purpose and recovering positive affect showing the most promise for future prevention and intervention. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Programs aimed at reducing the negative impact of childhood exposure to violence may increase their impact by developing key strengths versus solely focusing on alleviating symptoms.

Exposure to Multiple Forms of Bias Victimization on Youth and Young Adults: Relationships with Trauma Symptomatology and Social Support.

Research has documented that a significant portion of youth are exposed to bias victimization. However, less is known about whether experiencing certain types of bias victimization (e.g., sexual orientation bias) is more or less likely to be related to a more extensive bias victimization history (i.e., experiencing multiple types of bias victimization) and whether exposure to multiple types of bias victimization explains any relationships between specific types of bias victimization and negative outcomes. To address these gaps, the current study explores relationships between exposure to multiple types of bias-motivated victimization, trauma symptomatology and perceived social support. Participants were 854 youth and young adults (60.9% female) from three higher risk communities who completed a survey on personal experiences with bias-related victimization. The average age of participants was 16.6 years; 28.5% of the sample described themselves as Black or African American; 13.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race); 45.3% as White, and 12.8% as another race. Sixty-nine percent of the sample described their sexual orientation as heterosexual; 8.9% as gay, lesbian, or homosexual; 12.5% as bisexual; and 9.5% as another sexual orientation. Sixty-three percent of participants reported at least one type of bias victimization in their lifetime, and more than one in three youth (38.7%) experienced two or more types of bias victimization in their lifetimes (18.1% two types, 12.1% three types, and 8.5% four or more types). Experiencing multiple types of bias victimization was related to higher trauma symptomatology and less perceived social support. Experiencing multiple types of bias victimization attenuated or eliminated the association between individual types of bias victimization and well-being. The findings contribute to a growing body of research demonstrating the damaging mental health effects of occupying multiple marginalized statuses, and points to the cumulation of bias victimization experiences as an important factor contributing to significant differences in well-being and support among youth and young adults.

The Youth Firearm Risk and Safety Tool (Youth-FiRST): Psychometrics and Validation of a Gun Attitudes and Violence Exposure Assessment Tool.

This study reports on the development of a comprehensive assessment of exposure to guns and gun-related violence for evaluating the risk of gun-related trauma. Gun access, gun attitudes, gun safety education, and exposure to gun violence were measured. Participants were 630 youth, aged 2-17. Youth, ages 10-17, completed a self-report survey and caregivers of young children, ages 2-9, completed the survey as a proxy for that child. The youth were from urban (n = 286) and rural (n = 344) areas. Factor analysis, item response theory, and structural equation modeling were used. Two factors described access to guns, two factors described gun attitudes, and a single construct captured gun safety education. The gun violence exposure factor showed strong associations with trauma symptomatology. The individual constructs showed good psychometric properties and measurement noninvariance by urbanicity.

Understanding the burden of trauma and victimization among American Indian and Alaska native elders: historical trauma as an element of poly-victimization.

Research on recognition of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and poly-victimization has transformed our understanding of violence and trauma exposure. Both concepts point to the importance of understanding the cumulative burden of trauma and the interconnections among forms of violence and abuse. However, there has been little conceptualization about what these two constructs mean for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals, families, and communities, and even less attention to the experiences of AI/AN elders. This paper summarizes prior work on adverse childhood experiences and poly-victimization, addresses the limitations of past research on these issues, and expands these constructs to include concepts of historical trauma in order to better understand victimization and trauma among AI/AN elders. We call for the integration of historical trauma into the poly-victimization framework for AI/AN communities in order to more accurately capture the true burden of victimization among AI/AN peoples. Future research, prevention, and intervention can better incorporate historical trauma and we provide suggestions for doing so, including adding items on historical trauma to poly-victimization surveys and creating programs to promote cultural connectedness.

Poly-victimization, Trauma, and Resilience: Exploring Strengths That Promote Thriving After Adversity.

Although it is well known that victimization is associated with higher trauma symptoms, there is still limited information on the protective factors that can help people thrive after adversity. Using the Resilience Portfolio Model as a framework, this study explores a range of psychological and social strengths in a community sample of youth from the southern U.S.A sample of 440 youth aged 10 to 21 (average age 16.38, SD = 3.04) was recruited from youth-serving organizations. They completed a survey on trauma symptoms, victimization, other adversities, and 16 psychological and social strengths.Almost 9 in 10 (89.3%) youth reported one or more victimizations, with peer victimizations most common. Adult-perpetrated offenses were reported by almost half of youth (47.1%). Although several psychological and social strengths were inversely correlated with trauma symptoms at the bivariate level, hierarchical regressions indicated that a sense of purpose was the only strength that uniquely contributed to more resilient mental health in a model with all strengths and controlling for victimization, other adversities, poverty, age, and gender (total R2 = .33). The variance explained by strengths (17%) was similar to the variance explained by adversities (15%).In this highly victimized sample of youth, many strengths were associated with lower trauma symptoms for youth, with a sense of purpose showing the most promise. Prevention and intervention programs may benefit from efforts to increase a sense of purpose or other meaning making activities, in addition to efforts that specifically target incidents of trauma.

Gun Violence Exposure and Posttraumatic Symptoms Among Children and Youth.

Although statistics on youth homicide and injury from gun violence are available, little research has focused on how gun violence overlaps with other victimizations or on the psychological impact of gun violence on children. Pilot survey data were collected on the experiences of 630 U.S. children (age range: 2-17 years) from Boston, Philadelphia, and rural areas of eastern Tennessee. Youth aged 10-17 years completed a self-report survey on a wide range of gun violence exposures, and parents of younger children (aged 2-9 years) completed the survey as a proxy for that child. Direct gun violence exposure, witnessing gun violence, and hearing gunshots were all significantly associated with other forms of victimization, rs = .10-.38, p < .001. The findings suggest that youth who experience direct gun violence are often exposed to multiple violent contexts. For older youth (ages 10-17 years) polyvictimization was most strongly associated with posttraumatic symptoms, ß = .35, p < .001, although witnessing gun violence still uniquely predicted a higher level of symptoms, ß = .18, p < .01. For younger children (ages 2-9 years), hearing and witnessing gun violence were both related to posttraumatic symptoms, ß = .15, p < .01 for both, even after controlling for polyvictimization. Mental health professionals and trauma-informed services should be mindful that the traumatic impact of gun violence for children may not necessarily be attached to direct victimization experiences but may also result from simply seeing or hearing it in their neighborhoods.

"We almost had the whole block's phone number on the wall": A mixed methods investigation of informal helping in a predominantly rural sample.

Community psychologists have noted the limitations of professional models of mental health treatment, demonstrating that people are more likely to use informal familial or community support during adversity. However, relatively little is known about the forms and functions of informal help seeking and provision. Semistructured interviews (N = 170), in which a sample of predominantly rural-dwelling adolescents and adults described significant life experiences, were coded for instances of receiving help. Codes thematically categorized the type of adversity, role of the helper, and nature of the help received. Most participants (67.64%) reported the presence of at least one informal helper; only 8.82% of participants discussed receiving professional help. Chi-square analyses suggested that the nature of the help received varied by the types of helper and adversity being experienced and that different helpers were more likely to aid with particular adversities. The presence of a nonfamilial, nonprofessional helper was associated with higher posttraumatic growth, generativity, and perceived social support.

New measures to assess the social ecology of youth: A mixed-methods study.

OBJECTIVE: This project used mixed methods to expand the understanding of social ecological constructs important to youth and develop measures to assess these constructs. METHODS: Eight focus groups and 24 cognitive interviews were conducted with adolescents and caregivers. These were followed by a survey completed by 440 youth ages 10-21 (average age: 16.38, standard deviation[SD] = 3.04). RESULTS: Qualitative data revealed social ecological constructs that have received little prior research attention. These include three psychosocial strengths: relational motivation (inspiration from key adults), group connectedness (bonded to others in teams or organizations), and mattering (knowing your importance to significant others). One outcome was also identified: family well-being (subjective psychological functioning of the family). Psychometric analyses indicated that the new quantitative measures have good to excellent reliability and validity. IMPLICATIONS: The social ecology is complex and extends beyond commonly studied constructs such as social support and collective efficacy. More comprehensive assessments can further research.

Exposure to Medication Overdose as an Adversity in Childhood.

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of youth exposure to medication or pill overdose by someone close to them, as well as how common this is within the spectrum of major stressful events and child victimization experienced by youth. DESIGN AND METHODS: Data were collected as part of the Third National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence, a nationally representative telephone survey of youth, ages 2-17years (N=3738) conducted in 2013. The analytical subset for the current paper is youth ages 10-17years (n=1959). RESULTS: Estimates indicate that approximately 1 in 12 youth (8%), ages 10-17 have been exposed to medication overdose by someone close to them in their lifetimes. Overdose exposure is related to recent trauma symptoms, alcohol and other substance use. However, these relationships appear to be largely driven by the co-existence of major stressful events these youth are experiencing. Alcohol use is the exception; exposure to medication overdose continues to be related to past year personal alcohol use even after adjusting for other lifetime stressful events. CONCLUSIONS: Having a close family member or friend overdose on a medication is a common experience among U.S. youth and related to high rates of co-occurring stressful events. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Health care providers should be aware that youth exposure to medication overdoses likely indicates exposure to other recognized adversities. Youth with a caregiver who has had an overdose may require an urgent response including referral to crisis intervention through child and family services.

Digital poly-victimization: The increasing importance of online crime and harassment to the burden of victimization.

Many forms of victimization, including bullying and property crime, are increasingly moving online, but most studies of poly-victimization still primarily focus on in-person crime and violence. Few studies have examined the importance of incorporating technology-based victimizations for assessing the true burden of violence. The purpose of this study is to explore whether digital poly-victimization contributes to post-traumatic stress and anxiety/dysphoria symptoms after controlling for in-person poly-victimization. Given that technology use and technology-based victimization are changing rapidly, a mixed methods approach was adopted. In the first two phases, focus groups and cognitive interviews (89 total participants) were used to identify the range of digital victimization and develop the Digital Poly-Victimization Scale. In the third phase, the new measure was included in a community survey (n = 478, 57.5% female; 62.6% earning under $50,000 per year) in a rural Southern region, along with measures of in-person poly-victimization, posttraumatic stress and anxiety/dysphoria symptoms, and other outcomes and personal characteristics. A comprehensive measure of digital poly-victimization indicated that almost 3 in 4 participants (72.3%) had experienced at least one form of digital victimization. The results indicated that digital poly-victimization contributed unique variance to post-traumatic stress and anxiety/dysphoria symptoms (p < .001), health-related quality of life (p < .01), and subjective and family well-being (both p < .001), even after controlling for demographics and in-person poly-victimization. Digital victimization often presents fewer risks to perpetrators and can be expected to represent an increasing share of the societal burden of violence. Future research on poly-victimization should pay more attention to the role of digital victimization.

Poly-victimization and resilience portfolios: Trends in violence research that can enhance the understanding and prevention of elder abuse.

This literature review assesses the current state of knowledge about elder abuse and mistreatment, focusing on the lack of incorporation of all forms of elder victimization and the benefits of a poly-victimization framework. This review also includes existing knowledge on risk factors and calls for a greater focus on protective factors and a greater inclusion on family and community factors. Future research, prevention, and intervention would benefit from considering the true burden of elder victimization and a greater implementation of strengths-based approaches to programs.

Elder mistreatment in underserved populations: Opportunities and challenges to developing a contemporary program of research.

This article provides an overview of the status of research on elder mistreatment among underserved populations in the United States, including gaps in our current knowledge base and scientific and structural barriers to growing research on the exploitation, neglect, and abuse of older people from diverse and disadvantaged ethnic/racial, geographic, sexual identity, and socioeconomic groups. High-priority areas in need of new elder mistreatment research with underserved populations are identified, and suggestions are given for how this research can be facilitated by researchers, university institutional review boards, and funding agencies.

Polyvictimization, polystrengths, and their contribution to subjective well-being and posttraumatic growth.

OBJECTIVE: The negative biopsychosocial outcomes associated with exposure to victimization are well-known, however, limited research has examined the protective factors that can enhance well-being and growth following polyvictimization from in-person and digital sources. This study examines the contribution of adversities and a range of psychological and social strengths on perceptions of subjective well-being and posttraumatic growth (PTG). METHOD: A sample of 478 individuals aged 12-75 (57.5% female; Mage = 36.44) from a largely rural Appalachian region of the United States completed a survey on victimization experiences, other adversities, psychosocial strengths, subjective well-being, and PTG. RESULTS: Approximately 93.3% of individuals reported at least one digital or in-person victimization, with 82.8% reporting two or more forms of victimization. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses indicated that strengths explained more than three times the variance in subjective well-being and PTG compared to adversities, with both models explaining about half of the variance in these outcomes (49% and 50%, respectively). Psychological endurance, sense of purpose, teacher support, and polystrengths were significantly associated with better well-being and/or PTG. CONCLUSION: Some strengths hold more promise than others for promoting well-being and PTG following polyvictimization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring strengths, psychological functioning and youth victimization among American Indians and Alaska Natives in four southern states.

BACKGROUND: Identifying factors that support healthy psychological functioning after experiencing violence or other adversities in youth can lead to better prevention and intervention efforts. This is particularly important among communities with disproportionately high rates of adversity resulting from legacies of social and political injustices, such as American Indian and Alaska Native populations. METHODS: Data were pooled from four studies in the southern U.S. to examine a subsample of American Indian/Alaska Native participants (N = 147; mean age 28.54 years, SD = 16.3). Using the resilience portfolio model, we investigate the impact of three categories of psychosocial strengths (regulatory, meaning making, and interpersonal) on psychological functioning (subjective well-being and trauma symptoms), controlling for youth victimization, lifetime adversities, age, and gender. RESULTS: In examining subjective well-being, the full model accounted for 52 % of the variance, with strengths explaining more variance than adversities (45 % vs 6 %). For trauma symptoms, the full model accounted for 28 % of the variance, with strengths and adversities accounting nearly equally for the variance (14 % and 13 %). DISCUSSION: Psychological endurance and sense of purpose showed the most promise for bolstering subjective well-being while poly-strengths (having a diversity of multiple strengths) was most predictive of fewer trauma symptoms. Building psychosocial strengths offers promising strategies for prevention and intervention in Native nations and communities.