NCJ Number
162488
Date Published
1995
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This chapter identifies and describes the variety of personal characteristics and dispositions that recent research has indicated enable environmentally stressed juveniles to cope adequately with adversity and avoid problems associated with substance abuse.
Abstract
Resiliency (ability to cope with stressful situations) factors include an easy temperament or disposition, an intellectual capability that facilitates verbal communication, and a sense of self-efficacy. The latter involves a sense of self-esteem and self-confidence as well as a belief in one's ability to influence one's internal and external environment. Other factors that favor resiliency are an ability to appraise the environment realistically, social problemsolving skills, a sense of direction or mission, empathy, humor, and adaptive distancing abilities when faced with a dysfunctional environment. Gender differences were also found to be associated with resiliency. Societal sex-role expectations help girls to be more resilient in early childhood and boys to be more resilient in adolescence. The youth, both male and female, who acted in a flexible, nonstereotypical, androgynous manner were the most resilient of all. The most resilient girls came from households that encouraged risk-taking and independence. Resilient boys came from households characterized by structure and rules, as well as the encouragement of emotional responsiveness. A number of programs throughout the country are attempting to incorporate resiliency ideas into adolescent substance-abuse prevention programs. Each focuses on strength-building and empowerment rather than pathology and risk. Both need to be taken into account in program planning, but the former has been neglected for too long. 68 references