Competence in the context of adversity: Pathways to resilience and maladaptation from childhood to late adolescence

Abstract

Competent outcomes in late adolescence were examined in relation to adversity over time, antecedent competence and psychosocial resources, in order to investigate the phenomenon of resilience. An urban community sample of 205 (114 females, 90 males; 27% minority) children were recruited in elementary school and followed over 10 years. Multiple methods and informants were utilized to assess three major domains of competence from childhood through adolescence (academic achievement, conduct, and peer social competence), multiple aspects of adversity, and major psychosocial resources. Both variable-centered and person-centered analyses were conducted to test the hypothesized significance of resources for resilience. Better intellectual functioning and parenting resources were associated with good outcomes across competence domains, even in the context of severe, chronic adversity. IQ and parenting appeared to have a specific protective role with respect to antisocial behavior. Resilient adolescents (high adversity, adequate competence across three domains) had much in common with their low-adversity competent peers, including average or better IQ, parenting, and psychological well-being. Resilient individuals differed markedly from their high adversity, maladaptive peers who had few resources and high negative emotionality. Results suggest that IQ and parenting scores are markers of fundamental adaptational systems that protect child development in the context of severe adversity.

Contextual risk and parenting as predictors of effortful control and social competence in preschool children

“…In the Rochester Longitudinal Study, a cumulative risk index significantly predicted lower social-emotional competence in children better than any single risk factor alone, and the effects could not be accounted for by any particular subset of the risk factors (Sameroff et al, 1987). Similarly, chronic and cumulative adversity was related to lower competence across academic, conduct and peer domains (Masten et al, 1999). In the present study, the risk factors that compose the cumulative risk score, including poverty, single-parent status, ethnic or racial minority status, household density, major life events, and moves, reflect chronic or disruptive risk factors that might pervasively affect the child's experience.…”

“…Parental warmth and expressivity have been shown to predict better empathy and social functioning in children (Zhou et al, 2002), whereas authoritarian parenting is associated with lower sociabilitycompetence (Chen, Dong, & Zhou, 1997). A global measure of parenting resources for children that included parental structure, warmth and cohesiveness was found to predict greater social and behavioral competence in childhood and adolescence (Masten et al, 1999). Further, mothers' parenting behaviors and mother-child relationship quality have been shown to predict children's social competence indirectly through their promotion of child self-regulation (Brody & Flor, 1998;Brody, McBride, Kim, & Brown, 2002), as is proposed in the present study.…”

Early childhood anxious solitude and subsequent peer relationships: Maternal and cognitive moderators

“…Because cognitive competencies are less stable in early than middle childhood (Kopp, 1994), the early nature of our assessment may have attenuated its predictive power. Another possibility is that the Bracken School Readiness Subscale (Bracken, 1984) used in the present investigation captures a different set of intellectual capabilities than do the measures employed in other relevant investigations (often the Wechsler) (Masten et al, 1999;Morison & Masten, 1991;Radke-Yarrow & Brown, 1993;Weir & Gjerde, 2002). Despite these considerations, it will be important in the future to further examine the propensity of anxious solitude to suppress interpersonal benefits normally conferred by healthy cognitive development.…”

“…Evidence suggests that the two most robust predictors of resilience in vulnerable children are positive parenting and healthy intellectual functioning (Luthar & Zigler, 1992;Masten et al, 1999). Appearing noticeably "slower" intellectually than classmates, especially when combined with anxious behavior, might decrease a child's chance of friendship with high-functioning classmates and exacerbate a child's chance of being evaluated negatively by peers.…”

Social outcomes in childhood brain disorder: A heuristic integration of social neuroscience and developmental psychology.

“…The pathways are designated as bidirectional; thus, social information processing can affect social interactions, which in turn affect social adjustment. Conversely, the perceptions of self and other can affect social interactions and help to shape social information processing.Recent models of social competence also have acknowledged that there are a variety of risk and resilience factors that can hamper or promote social development (Guralnick, 1999;Masten et al, 1999). Some of those factors are intrinsic to the child (e.g., intellectual functioning), whereas others involve environmental influences (e.g., socioeconomic status, parenting behaviors, and parent-child relationships On the environmental side of the ledger, research suggests that parenting beliefs and behaviors and the quality of the parent-child relationship can influence children's social interactions and social adjustment .…”