Identify and discuss factors associated with resilience in the family’s environment. Why is it important to consider family factors when studying resiliency?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers may include
a. The importance of the parent-child relationship has been widely studied, and specifically it has been established as critical that a child have a strong attachment relationship with at least one stable parental figure (Banyard, Williams, Siegel, & West, 2002; Herrenkohl et al., 1994; Siegel, 2000).
b. Strong attachment among child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors to a nonmaltreating mother predicted lower rates of abuse in adult relationships (Siegel, 2000) and high scores on a multidimensional measure of resilience (Banyard et al., 2002). Presence of an affectionate and supportive nonabusing parent was associated with better school achievement among adolescent survivors of child physical abuse (Herrenkohl et al., 1994).
c. There are a range of parenting factors associated with increased rates of resilience (likely because they strengthen the attachment bond between parent and child), including the extent to which the parent holds positive perceptions of the child.
d. A crucial parenting response for nonmaltreating parents is support following disclosure of the abuse, which includes belief in the child’s experiences and nonjudgment and nonblame for the abuse (Elliott & Carnes, 2001).
With respect to individual parent characteristics, lower rates of parental psychopathology have been associated with greater resilience among maltreated children. Longitudinal data have indicated that parents with fewer antisocial personality traits (Jaffee et al., 2007) and absence of substance use disorders (Banyard et al., 2002; Jaffee et al., 2007) were more able to provide stability to their children, which fostered resilience.