No abstract

There is substantial evidence that exposure to family adversity significantly and negatively impacts positive adolescent development by placing adolescents at increased risk of experiencing developmental difficulties, including conduct problems. Although the mechanisms responsible for these effects are still largely unknown, a novel line of inquiry in the resilience field conceptualizes positive adaptation, following exposure to atypical adversity, as resulting from complex interactions of systems at multiple ecological levels. The purpose of the present analysis was to apply this multisystemic resilience framework to the study of positive adaptation following exposure to family adversity in a sample of Canadian adolescents (n = 230; mean age 16.16, SD = 1.38) and South African adolescents (n = 421; mean age = 15.97, SD = 1.19) living in economically volatile communities dependent on the oil and gas industry. Cross-sectional survey data were used to investigate the mechanisms through which family adversity exercises its impact on adolescent conduct problems by accounting for their caregiving, peer, and community resources. Results of two moderated mediation analyses showed that family adversity impacts adolescent externalizing mental health negatively, via disrupted caregiving, when other resources are also considered. For the Canadian adolescents, these negative impacts were protectively moderated by peer support, but not moderated by appreciation for community traditions. In contrast, peer support showed no significant protective effect for the South African sample, while a strong appreciation for community traditions was positively and significantly associated with conduct difficulties. Contextual dynamics (e.g., social unrest) provide a plausible explanation for the discrepant results and bring attention to the importance of theorizing resilience in context.

Multi-informant reports of aggression by siblings in families with and without a history of IPV were compared. Associations between aggressive behavior and child depressive and trauma-related symptoms, as well as maternal and sibling warmth were also explored. Mothers, observers and the siblings themselves reported on aggressive behaviour. Mothers reported on child trauma-related symptoms while children provided self-report on depressive symptoms and mother-child and sibling warmth. The frequency of observed aggression did not differ across groups on average, although more sibling dyads exposed to IPV engaged in aggression than those not exposed. Child reports of sibling aggression did not differ across groups but mothers reported significantly less aggressive behavior by children exposed to IPV than those not exposed. Regression results indicated that depressive and trauma-related symptoms were significant risk factors for aggression, while the role of mother-child and sibling warmth was more complex. Results were discussed within a developmental psychopathology framework.

This paper provides a critical analysis of research on self-esteem in children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV), with particular emphasis on the role of sibling relationships. Over 100 empirical and review articles published from 2000 to 2015 examining self-esteem in children exposed to IPV, the role of sibling relationships in the development of self-esteem, and the sibling relationships of children exposed to IPV, were reviewed. Research findings show that self-esteem is an important component of understanding children's positive adjustment and their adjustment difficulties. A substantial research literature also documents that siblings significantly influence one another's self-esteem; however, the potential risk or protective function of sibling relationships in the development of self-esteem in children and adolescents exposed to IPV has only been minimally investigated. This is a serious gap in the literature, as this information has significant potential for informing prevention and intervention programming. Recommendations for future research were provided.

A history of childhood abuse has been linked to serious and long-lasting problems in adulthood. We developed two theoretical models concerning how early adverse experiences affect health in adulthood, and we tested the empirical fit of the two models in a population-based representative sample of Canadian adults (N = 25,113) using a structural equation modelling (SEM) technique, path analysis. The first model included direct pathways by which a history of three types of childhood abuse—exposure to intimate partner violence, physical abuse, and sexual abuse—affected adult physical and mental health, as well as indirect pathways by which perceived social support and everyday life stress acted as mediators of these associations. The second model included only indirect pathways and tested mediating effects. Global statistics indicated that both models were a good fit to the data, and local statistics supported the hypothesized associations between independent, dependent, and mediator variables.