Content area
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between resiliency reported by DCFS wards in residential facilities and life experiences variables from the theoretical framework of the bioecological theory. Outcomes were measured using the Adolescent Resilience Questionnaire (ARQ) and ages of major events and number of placements found in social histories as well as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE). Data were collected on a single occasion from 67 DCFS wards residing in residential facilities. Stepwise regression analyses were conducted to explore factors of life experiences predictive of resiliency. Three variables of life experiences, including number of juvenile detentions, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse, were found to be predictive of individual resilience. The number of juvenile detentions were predictive of higher levels of individual resilience while experiencing emotional neglect and sexual abuse were predictive of lower levels of individual resilience. One variable of life experiences, emotional neglect, was predictive of lower levels of family resilience. Two variables were found to be predictive of lower levels of peer resilience, number of psychiatric hospitalizations and experiencing sexual abuse. Witnessing the abuse of the mother was a life experience found to be predictive of lower levels of school resilience. One variable of life experiences, the number of psychiatric hospitalizations, was found to be predictive of lower levels of community resilience as the number of hospitalizations increased. Overall, two variables, sexual abuse and witnessing the abuse of the mother, were predictive of lower total resilience.