Resilience in Physically Maltreated Adolescents| Interpersonally Related Protective Factors and Gender Differences

• Main Author: Roberts, Deborah Morgan
• Language: EN
• Published: The George Washington University 2017
• Subjects: Counseling Psychology
• Online Access: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10262221

<p> Physical maltreatment places adolescents at risk for negative behavioral and emotional problems. Resilience focuses on the processes that allow these adolescents to cope following the risk and minimize the potential negative outcomes. Parental and peer support were expected to protect against physical maltreatment in adolescents as support by existing empirical evidence in the adolescence and maltreatment literature. Further, these chosen interpersonal protective factors were expected to be more effective in reducing negative outcomes in females than males as current literature suggests females are more interpersonally focused. Secondary data analysis was conducted on data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW) national longitudinal dataset. Participants in the current study included 374 physically maltreated adolescents, aged 11 to 17.5 years old (M<i>age</i> = 13.68, <i>SD</i> = 1.85). The sample included 227 females and 147 males. Foster care was exclusionary. Structural equation techniques including model comparison, mediation analysis, and gender code analysis were conducted to study the research hypotheses. Parental and peer support protected against behavioral and emotional problems in physically maltreated adolescents. Peer support had a greater impact on reducing emotional and overall (i.e. behavioral and emotional problems combined). Parental support was more protective than peer support against behavioral problems. No significant differences were found between the dual domain model (i.e. measuring behavioral and emotional problems separately) and the overall model (i.e. the combination of the two domains). Females were more likely to endorse behavioral and emotional problems. Both structural models (i.e. dual domain and overall) consisting of the interpersonal factors of parental and peer support exhibited better fit in females than males. Mediation analysis was not significant for peer support. Maltreatment was not significantly associated with peer support. A partial mediation effect was found for parental support. Clinical implications include the promotion of positive peer interactions through school programs and counseling techniques, and increasing use of peer support groups. Clinical and school counselors would benefit from the development of programs and interventions focused on teaching how to provide positive parental support to minimize behavioral issues and effectively spend time with adolescents. Additional theoretical implications and limitations of the study are identified.</p>