L10: Child - Risk and Protective Factors Flashcards
‘Well-being’ definitions often revolve around what is lacking.
What is the problem with this?
Lack of negative indicators does not equal positive well-being.
There is a lack of knowledge concerning positive well-being that reflects children’s lived experiences and perspectives.
What do we mean by ‘wellbeing’ according to the WHO?
it is a construct after all
It is a Multidimensional Construct
It is context dependent (e.g. children in schools in different countries)
It is on a continuum - (not you either have it or you don’t, it goes up and down)
What are the 4 multidimensional factors that influence wellbeing according to the WHO?
Social wellbeing
Emotional wellbeing
Physical wellbeing
Environmental wellbeing
What is a risk factor?
Any factor which is associated with higher probability of poor developmental outcomes
What are protective factors?
Any factor which is associated with protecting against or mitigating risk.
Why is it hard to do research around social development?
Experiments can be unethical, hard to do ethical experiments
Can’t do experiments (can’t randomly assign conditions with children)
Problems with causality: Can only do prospective research (or retrospective research) - longitudinal research is resource intensive and can have its own issues
Whos theory is this from?
What can it tell us about risk and protective factors and where it stems from?
Bronfenbrenner.
That risk and protective factors can happen at each level
i.e. individual levle, microsystem, mesosystem, macrosystem levels.
According to Bronfenbrenners model,
What individual risk factors are there for childhood wellbeing
Temperament
Low birth weight
Genetics
Marginalisation (e.g. race, ethnicity, culture, religion)
According to Bronfenbrenners model,
What family risk factors are there for childhood wellbeing
Mental illness
Divorse
Unemployment (also community issue)
Abuse/neglect
Overcrowding in house
According to Bronfenbrenners model,
What community risk factors are there for childhood wellbeing
Low SES (socio-economic status)
Violence
Facilities available
According to Bronfenbrenners model,
What macro-system risk factors are there for childhood wellbeing
Policies relating to childhood wellbeing
(are governments promoting wellbeing and are they aware of the issues?
What is the greatest type of risk in terms of child development?
Cumulative Risk
Many risk factors tend to co-occur, be inter-related or lead to further risk factors
Cumulative risk is worse than the effect of any single risk factor
Why are cumulative risks so dangerous?
Because risk it is not simple addition. The effect of risk gets much worse as you get more risk factors
(e.g. 1+1 problem doesn’t equal 2 risk, risk is exponential e.g. 1+1=5)
Where in the Bronfenbrenner system do most risk factors stem from?
Mesosystem/exosystem
e.g. Available facilities, unemployment, schooling, neighbourhood etc.
Define Resilience
The competence or capacity to adapt and strive under stress
Is resilience best described as a dynamic or stable trait?
Dynamic process.
You can be resilient in some circumstances but not others
Can a child become resilient if they haven’t faced stress?
No
It is a skill that you build, you develop resilience through experiencing risk factors.
What is meant by resilience is domain specific?
People tend to be more resilient in some circumstances over others.
e.g. resilient against bullying but can’t handle academic stress. Or can handle work stress but not family.
What are the three main components of resilience?
Risk factors
(having to have experienced some sort of stressors)
Protective factors
(can be seen as a protective factor itself)
Competent functioning
(despite the stress you feel you are still acting at a competent level)
Being able to strive in the face of adversity is called…
Resilience
Is resilience typically inbuilt (genetic) or built over time?
Built over time
Resilience is highly interactive process between which two factors?
Individual characteristics of the person
The environment in which that person has developed.
What impact does genes have on resilience?
Shape where the fulcrum for our capacity for resilience is positioned at the start
e.g. Can make us more sensitive to maltreatment or more resilient
Is our capacity for resilience set by our genes?
No, experience ‘moves the fulcrum’ for our capacity for resilience depending on positive or negative outcomes.
Making us more or less resilience
What is the key to building resilience in children?
Having an adult there to help the child have positive interactions to build resilience.
How do the genes impact our response to environmental situations?
What does resilience have to do with this?
They turn up or turn down the expression of chemicals in the brain that govern the responses to stress, anxiety, depressive situations etc.
Having better resilience means that we do not get emotionally overwhelmed when negative situations arise.
What are the 3 different kinds of resilience according to Masten et al. (1990, 1994)
1. At risk or high risk children who do not succumb to adversities or show better than expected outcomes. (e.g. low birth weight babies, poverty)
2. Children who develop coping strategies/adapt positively in situations of chronic stress (e.g. whos parents have mental illness or addiction issues)
3. Children who have suffered extreme trauma but still seem to do well (e.g. disasters, sudden loss of relative, refugee experience)
How are socio-ecological factors related to resilience?
Capacities and resources for young children can help develop the individual traits needed for resilience.
What three sets of factors did Luthar et al. (2000) believe related to the ‘development of resilience’ in children?
1. Attributes of the individual child (e.g. in general, able to handle stress well)
2. Attributes of a child’s family (what sort of attachment relationship present)
3. Characteristics of larger social environment (are people rewarded for doing well in the environment)
In the social-ecological model of protective factors
Name the protective factors that are important for building resilience at the child/individual level
Social and Emotional Competence of Children
In the social-ecological model of protective factors
Name the protective factors that are important for building resilience at the family/relationships level
Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development
Parent Resilience
In the social-ecological model of protective factors
Name the protective factors that are important for building resilience at the community/neighborhood level
Social Connections
Concrete Supports in Times of Need
In the social-ecological model of protective factors
Name the protective factors that are important for building resilience at the society level
Concrete supports in times of need
What are the other important protective factors for wellbeing other than resilience individual/child level?
Self-esteem (how you see yourself as a person)
Self-efficacy (do you believe you can do better or give up)
Emotional self-regulation (can you look at yourself and identify the emotions you’re feeling)
Peer groups (are your friends supportive and helping you)
Individual skills (how good are you at getting help when you need)
(resilience at this level)
What are the other important protective factors for wellbeing other than resilience at the family level?
Support from family/family functioning
Connection with relatives (positive connection)
What are the other important protective factors for wellbeing other than resilience at the community level?
Relationship with teachers (very important protective factor, rated highly by at risk-children)
Membership of organisations (e.g. play a sport, have a community to draw support from)
What are the other important protective factors for wellbeing other than resilience at the macro-system level?
Policies relating to childhood wellbeing
(is early childhood a priority for government)
Why is important to make sure early childhood goes well and children have good childhood well-being?
A period of critical brain development - chronic and ongoing stress alters brain development.
Interpretation of threat- Children learn to respond to stress in certain ways during this critical period and how they interpret threats and what they see as a threat.
Sensitive preiods: It is a sensitive period for language development and sensory refinement (relevent and irrelevant stimuli)
What 3 features should interventions have when trying to increase childhood wellbeing?
- Interventions that build on strengths where posible (resilience a big focus)
- Increase protective factors, decrease risk factors
- Focus on identifying those at risk and intervening before issues occur
In interventions, which 3 specific targets should we focus on the build resilience at a psychological level?
Attachment
Self-esteem
Self-efficacy
