Patterns and Transitions in Resilience among Young Children Involved with the Child Welfare System

• In Event: Child Maltreatment, Child Welfare Involvement and Predictors of Youth Risk and Resilience

Abstract

Background: Breaking the common narrative that children with maltreatment histories are predetermined to have negative outcomes, studies have indicated ample empirical evidence of resilience among this population (Cicchetti & Rogosch, 2012; Dubowitz et al., 2016;). However, it remains unclear if resilience at one point remains stable or changes over time and which factors influence such developmental processes of resilience. Caregiver cognitive stimulation has been highlighted as one of the salient protective factors related to positive child development. Yet, it has not been examined concerning the movement in resilience over time following child maltreatment. An improved understanding of developmental changes in resilience profiles and related factors is vital to inform intervention strategies to support positive adaptation for children who have experienced childhood trauma. This study aimed to examine the patterns and transitions in resilience among children involved with the child welfare system and test the link between caregiver cognitive stimulation and transitions in resilience profiles over time.

Methods: Data were from The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Four domains (cognitive, social, emotional, behavioral) of resilience were measured at Time 1 and Time 2 (18-month follow-up) using the Preschool Language Scale-3, the Social Skills Rating System, the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale Screener, and the Child Behavior Checklist. Caregiver cognitive stimulation was assessed by the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment. We conducted Latent Profile Analysis and Latent Transition Analysis on 486 children (48% female, Mage = 3.49) involved with the child welfare system.

Results: We found three resilience profiles at Time 1 (19.9% low emotional behavioral, 26.1% low cognitive, 54.0% multi-domain) and two resilience profiles at Time 2 (18.9% low emotional behavioral, 81.1% multi-domain). About two-thirds (66.1%) of the children in the low emotional behavioral resilience group at Time 1 stayed in the low emotional behavioral resilience group at Time 2. In contrast, the remaining 33.9% transitioned into the multi-domain resilience group. Approximately 17% of the children in the low cognitive resilience group at Time 1 moved to the low emotional behavioral resilience group at Time 2, while 82.9% transitioned into the multi-domain resilience group. Most children (95.7%) who belonged to the multi-domain resilience group at Time 1 continued to be in the multi-domain resilience group at Time 2. Higher levels of cognitive stimulation were associated with continued membership in the multi-domain resilience profile group.

Conclusion/Implications: Our findings highlight both the stability and mutability of resilience. Further, the results demonstrate that resilience is prevalent among young children even after exposure to early adversity. Practitioners working with children with a history of maltreatment should identify and capitalize on the strengths, assets, and resources these children already possess and help them maintain resilience. Finally, caregiver cognitive stimulation appears to be a key ingredient in promoting continued resilience. It might be important for parenting programs offered to parents involved with the child welfare system to incorporate modules that teach the parents how to engage their children in cognitively stimulating activities at home to facilitate children’s resilient development.

Authors

• Susan Yoon, Ohio State University
  Presenting Author

• Junyeong Yang, The Ohio State University

• FEI Pei, Syracuse University

• Juan Lorenzo Benavides, Ohio State University

• Öznur Bayar

• Jessica Logan, Vanderbilt University

• Sherry Hamby