Resilience and Risk Among Maltreated Children in Out-of-Home Care

Abstract

Resilience is defined as positive adaptation and functioning following exposure to significant risk or adversity (e.g., maltreatment). It is an important topic of investigation in child welfare due to the number of children with such adverse life experiences. While the definition of positive adaptation varies in the literature, maltreatment researchers often define it in terms of the low frequency of behavioural problems, with the consideration that resilience in a child may be fluid across domains of functioning and/or across time. The current dissertation examined resilience among maltreated school-age children living in out-of-home care through three interrelated studies. The first examined multilevel correlates of behavioural resilience among a sample of 5 to 9 year old children living in out-of-home care. The second used developmental trajectory modeling to examine behavioural functioning across time among a sample of school-age children living in out-of-home care (with a particular focus on trajectories of resilience), and the third used semi-structured interviews to gain the often-neglected perspectives on resilience of child welfare workers. Findings across all three studies revealed several factors within various levels of the ecological model that contribute to resilience, including child internal developmental assets and relationships and social support. Furthermore, findings teased apart the distal impact of child welfare workers and agencies. The current dissertation contributes to the existing literature by informing researchers and professionals working within the child welfare sector about the factors that are important for promoting resilience among vulnerable children in out-of-home care with the aim of improving the well-being of this population.