Are affluent youth truly “at risk”? Vulnerability and resilience across three diverse samples

Abstract

Building upon prior findings of elevated problems among East Coast suburban youth through the 11th grade, this study establishes disproportionately high incidence of maladjustment across three disparate samples: East Coast Suburban youth at the end of their senior year in high school, and 11th and 12th graders in (a) a Northwest suburb and (b) an East Coast city. Both East Coast samples showed pronounced elevations in substance use, whereas the Northwest suburban sample showed marked vulnerability in serious internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Across all samples, parents’ low perceived containment for substance use (lax repercussions on discovering use) was a major vulnerability factor, followed by parents’ knowledge of their teens’ activities. Overall, adolescents’ symptom levels were more strongly related to their relationships with mothers than with fathers. An exception was boys’ apparent vulnerability to fathers’, but not mothers’, perceived depressive symptoms. As with affluent eighth graders, we found that “overscheduling” in extracurriculars is not a critical vulnerability factor among these high school students. Finally, youth reports suggested that most affluent parents do not indiscriminately bail their children out of all problem situations (although a small subset, apparently, do). Results are discussed along with the implications for practice and for future research.

Coping with Negative Emotions: Connections with Adolescents’ Academic Performance and Stress

“…This focus on academic stress is especially relevant for the relatively affluent youth who participated in this study (see Method section). Recent research, for example, has shown that adolescents from affluent families are at especially high risk for substance abuse, depression, and anxiety (e.g., Luthar & Barkin, 2012), and that excessive pressure to achieve academically (Luthar & Latendresse, 2005) plays a major role in these difficulties. To date, however, there is surprisingly little research on academic stress, per se, and its relations with academic performance and other psychosocial variables.…”

Reasons for the “after-school pressure cooker” in Affluent Communities: It’s Not How Much Time, but Why

“…When considering research on the effects of OA overscheduling, few studies focus on affluent and/or highachieving youth, a subgroup with a higher likelihood of becoming extremely involved (see Luthar and Barkin 2012;Luthar et al 2006;Randall and Bohnert 2012;Randall et al 2015). In fact, research indicates that adolescents from affluent communities are more involved in OAs (Fredricks and Eccles 2006) but tend to benefit less from their participation (Mahoney 2000).…”

“…Interestingly, empirical studies examining youth from the ''culture of affluence'' (Luthar 2003;Luthar and Barkin 2012;Randall et al 2015) have found minimal support for negative consequences of high levels of OA involvement. Instead, these researchers have conceptualized OA overscheduling as a ''scape goat'' for parental pressure, with parental pressure explaining the majority of the variance for the links between OA intensity and maladjustment.…”

Understanding Resilience

“…Protective factors against deleterious impact of war-related adversities in children include a strong, positive bond between the primary caregiver and the child, the social support from teachers and peers, a shared sense of values, religious beliefs that find meaning in suffering, and humor and altruism as defense mechanisms (Werner, 2012). Besides children from an abusive and life-threatening environment, a newly identified group at risk is youth from affluent families, who may face higher risk of adjustment problems (e.g., substance use, depression, and anxiety) (Luthar and Barkin, 2012). Parents' lax repercussions on discovering substance use was shown to be a major vulnerability factor.…”

“…Moreover, the levels of teens' symptoms (rule breaking, anxious-depressed, and somatic symptoms) were found to correlate more strongly with the teens' relationships with mothers than with fathers, which may in part reflect greater amount of time spent with mothers, who are generally the primary caregivers of their children. Therefore, positive changes in parenting for affluent youth are of critical importance, including adopting a strict zero-tolerance policy regarding students' law breaking, remaining vigilant about their children's activities outside school, and engaging in talks and workshops for families in distress and holding support groups particularly for mothers (Luthar and Barkin, 2012).…”