The Impact of Self-Worth, Self-Control, and Conflict Resolution on the Development of Child Resilience

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Health, Growth, Injury

Abstract

The current study examined whether certain internal factors (i.e., self-worth, self-control, and conflict resolution) were predictive of child resilience. There is some evidence that both external and internal factors influence child resilience and there are links between internal factors and the development of child resilience in large samples (Nesheiwat & Brandwein, 2011). In this study, we hypothesized that children with higher levels of self-worth, self-control, and conflict resolution skills would exhibit higher levels of resilience approximately two and a half years later.
Data came from 146 family triads consisting of one primary caregiver and two siblings who participated in a longitudinal laboratory-based study. Siblings ages ranged from 4-12 at T1 and 6-14 at T2. Self-worth, self-control, and conflict resolution skills were measured at Time 1 (T1), and resilience was measured at Time (T2)—approximately 2.5 years later. T1 self-worth was measured using child-report on the Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 2012) with subscales for global self-worth and the child’s view of their own behavioral conduct. T1 self-control was measured using a snack delay task, and T1 conflict resolution was measured using the self-control and cooperation subscales from the Conflict Resolution Scale (Mischel, 2014; Phillips & Springer, 1992). T2 resilience was measured via primary caregiver report on the 12-item Child and Youth Resilience Measure and a single-item measure of parent-perceived resilience in children: “How often is this true: he/she stays calm and in control when faced with a challenge?” (Heard-Garris et al., 2018; Liebenberg et al., 2012). The two resilience measures were positively correlated; r(212) = .46, p < .01, and were mean composited to create a single index of child resilience.
Multilevel multiple regression models, controlling for covariates (child age, child sex, primary caregiver sex, family socioeconomic status [income, education level], and parental depression) revealed that child-reported self-worth at T1 was predictive of child resilience 2.5 years later at T2; beta = 0.42, SE = 0.11, p < .001. Parents reported their children’s resilience as similar (sibling r(111) = .53, p < .001). Children who reported higher self-worth were more likely to be later rated by their primary caregiver as more resilient. Observed self-control and conflict resolution skills were not predictive of resilience. Interestingly, of the child predictors, there was only an observed sibling correlation for self-worth (sibling r(111) = .30, p = .001). Observed self-control and child-reported conflict resolution skills did not yield a significant within-family effect.
These analyses, drawing on observational data and parent and child reports, find that self-worth advances the development of resilience. This reinforces previous findings that a child’s perception of themselves influences the way they view themselves in the face of challenges (Brooks, 1994). Acknowledging that greater self-worth predicts resilience, it would be beneficial to further study whether interventions focused on different aspects of self-worth would also lead to a growth of resilience in children.

Authors

• Maria Valentina Mae Penunia Yap, Illinois College
  Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Rellinger Zettler, Illinois College
  Non-Presenting Author

• T. Caitlin Vasquez-O'Brien, Eastern Connecticut State University
  Non-Presenting Author