Fostering family resiliency: a review of the key protective factors

Abstract

A B S T R AC TThe aim of this integrative review was to identify the protective factors that contribute to family resiliency. Families are comprised of individuals who interact across levels in a socio-ecological system. Family resiliency does not develop through evasion of risk, but through successful application of protective factors to engage in adverse situations and emerge from them stronger. In an effort to move away from pathological labelling, this review provides a foundation for strength-based family interventions. Thirteen peerreviewed databases were searched for articles and information regarding family resiliency. Careful review yielded 24 protective factors that foster resiliency across three distinct but interactive levels: individual, family and community. The protective factors identified in this review of the literature offer an excellent starting point for development of clinical interventions to support family resiliency.

A Systematic Review of the Relationship Between Family Structure and Health Risk Behaviours Amongst Young People: An African Perspective

“…Adolescents who perceive their relationships with their parents to be poor are reportedly more pessimistic, have lower self-esteem, and have more depressive symptoms than adolescents who have good relationships with their parents thus predisposing the former to engaging in risky behavior [40,41]. Literature has indicated that family processes fully accounted for the higher levels of delinquency exhibited by adolescents from singlefather versus single-mother families [41].…”

“…We note that dysfunctional families are not necessarily linked to family structure, but to the family processes where roles and responsibilities become unclear and thwarted. Research has demonstrated that parental involvement affects adolescent behavior and this can be positively influenced through careful monitoring of children on the part of parents [41]. This is a demanding role and in single parent homes and extended family homes, it becomes difficult to decide whose responsibility the monitoring becomes.…”

Resiliencia Familiar: un enfoque de investigación e intervención con familias multiproblemáticas

“…perseverancia en objetivos y actividades que beneficien la unidad familiar soporte mutuo mediante una actitud empática aceptar ayuda en el rol; construir nuevas redes de apoyo asimismo, los estudios cuantitativos expuestos en la tabla 2 reafirman la diferenciación entre procesos específicos al contexto, versus procesos transversales, destacando entre estos últimos: generar espacios y procesos de comunicación en la familia; resolver conjuntamente los problemas; fortalecer la cohesión familiar y apoyo mutuo; enriquecer la calidad de la interacción padre-hijo; practicar y desarrollar las competencias parentales; y acceder a fuentes de apoyo social (benzies & Mychasiuk, 2008 (Rodrigo et al, 2009;N=418) ü la resiliencia no está determinada por factores evolutivos o estructurales.…”

Trends in Youth Development Research Topics: An Integrative Review of Positive Youth Development Research Published in Selected Journals Between 2001-2010

“…For example, such approaches have been used to understand the experiences of immigrant and ethnic minority children (Guiberson, 2009;Stodolska, 2008;Telzer, 2011), adolescent peer experiences (Kingery, Erdley, Marshall, Whitaker, & Reuter, 2010), emotional regulation (Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009), sports coaching (McCullick et al, 2009), and family resiliency (Benzies & Mychasiuk, 2009). Integrative reviews have been undertaken to understand trends in topical content and methods, such as Graham and Ismail's (2011) study conducted in the field of community psychology.…”