Resilience and Risk Factors in Middle-Aged Children
Resilience and Risk Factors in Middle-Aged Children
This paper reviews the risk and resilience process in education in psychology and its impact on child development. It reviews a range of narrow and broad disciplinary aspects from scholarly research, practices, and policies. The paper particularly notes the risk factors affecting the child’s development and overall life, ranging from individual, family, and community risk factors. Also, while paying attention to the profound background of psychology and risk and resilience of a child, the paper notes the latter’s theories on understanding the waves of risk and resilience processes and impact on middle-aged child’s development.
Background
Empirical findings and evidence note resilience and risk factors and processes as major themes in psychology and affect development (Bajeux et al., 2018). They aid an understanding of the child’s adaptation to real-life and other factors which would impact their societal development. Among the major societal conditions noted in risk factors and resilience impacting the child’s development and societal situations include poverty, violence, oppression, trauma, stress, and deprivation and, well noted in Riley’s case study (Demir-Dagdas et al., 2018). Concerted research on resilience and risk factors over the last decades in psychology rapid adaptation and change dynamics and multilevel analysis.
Resilience and risk factors deter the child development despite their researches being imperative (Breakwell & Jaspal, 2021). Frameworks and consistently applied in the developmental sciences regarding resilience and risk factors include Risk and Resilience Theory. According to the risk and resilience model, risk factors in psychology affect the child’s development. It situates features statistically linked to increased health risks: violence, victimization, substance abuse, and oppression (Sameroff & Seifer, 2021). On the other hand, resilience is the capacity of the individual to remain healthy and effective even in the presence of various risk factors.
Research Waves on
Among middle-aged children, resilience is the capacity for the process or outcome of successfully adapting to circumstances despite threatening or challenging situations. Since time immemorial, challenges in discussing resilience have been recognized widely and crucial in discussing a child’s positive adaptations in troubled, deprived, and threatening surroundings (Bajeux et al., 2018). Besides, Psychological Association notes resilience as a critical process of effectively adapting in the face of trauma, adversity, threats, and significant stress sources such as relationship and family obstacles and other financial, health, or workforce challenges.
On the other hand, risk factors are characteristics with psychological, biological, community, family, or cultural levels preceding a child’s development and thus associated with higher negative outcome likelihood. Generally, approximately 43% {250 million} of children, including Riley’s case, who are under the age of five in middle and low-income nations, are at risk of adverse developmental effects (Frigerio et al., 2019). Child development occurs on the child’s ongoing psychological and biological processes and is heavily determined by the child’s environment, community, society, and caregivers (Demir-Dagdas et al., 2018). The Psychology Association divides risk factors affecting the child’s development into three critical categories. This includes the wide environment and community the child and their family live in and is profoundly linked to health social determinants (Pinquart, 2009). The second factor is poverty necessitating the child’s environmental stressors, lack of education access, inadequate sanitation, and poor water. The last factor is the child’s physical health, often impacted by maternal nutrition and illness, intimate partner violence, and substance abuse. Despite the factors, however, children possess protective factors, which, as a result, foster resilience and allowing the children to handle and overcome the circumstances (Frigerio et al., 2019). Protective factors ensuring the child adapt despite risk factors include good nutrition, safe and clean living spaces, healthy caregivers and parents, and nurturing environment. A child’s understanding of risk factors is vital as it aids a child’s achievement of development potentials and indicates a likelihood of indicating poor well-being and adult health (Macdonald et al., 2018). Risk factors profoundly deter the child’s motor, cognitive, and language outcomes. Measures of child development are linked to their broad multifactorial contexts in their settings.
Garmezy Ecological resilience Approach and Risk and Resilience Theory Affecting Middle-Aged Child’s Development
Risks and resilience theory is major discussed via two literature bodies. They involve psychological coping aspects and physiological stress aspects (Breakwell & Jaspal, 2021). Therefore, resilience study is designated to epidemiology discipline, which discusses a child’s normative and typical development and overall adaptation and functioning. Normative and typical development according to developmental personnel is essential for understanding human adaptation and function despite various challenges. Furthermore, from empirical-oriented knowledge on human adaptation and functioning, risk and resilience theory notes resilience stems from strength-based care philosophy and counseling (Kansky & Diener, 2017). Resilience is thus noted to have resulted from longitudinal research critical in understanding children cohorts at risk. The research, which focuses on clinicians’ case studies and observations, notes resiliency inception to be arising on children due to lack of career or parental interaction necessitating a weak neutral development network for the child. Also, resiliency inception comes from chronic stress experienced with younger children facing cases of abuse, in the long run, prompting over-stimulated adrenaline systems (Masten, 2018). As a result of abuse, the child is more likely to be aggressive, violent, and impulsive due to brainstem flood boosting inappropriate stress hormones. Besides that, a violent and impulsive child is likely to be emotionally unattached according to risk and resilience theory. The key elements of risk and resilience theory also argue that a child’s resilience is not connected to their superior functioning or individual psychological trait but is rather linked to their normal adaptation only if provided with the right resources (Kansky & Diener, 2017). Also, a child’s adaptation to circumstance is influenced by their differences resulting from personality, genetics, and temperament, initiating their responses to protective and risk factors.
On the other hand, risk and resilience theory notes that risks factors affecting the child’s overall life would result from the child’s social-economic status (Mikolajczak, 2019). Noted as mediating risk factor, socioeconomic status indirectly affects the child’s development. For example, poverty indirectly influences the child’s behavior and overall adaptation (Bowers et al., 2017). The latter is linked to limited opportunities, resources, or access to healthcare services. The theory of risk and resilience also notes risk in the child’s life as part and parcel of their development. For example, a child’s development and exposure to risk factors boost their resilience, coping abilities, and skills. Environmental risks a child witnesses tempers with their biological functioning and genes and thus need for a child’s adaptation to protective factors (Oldfield et al., 2018). As noted in the theory of risk and resilience, protective factors would range from operations and mental features such as self-control, agency sense, planning, and self-confidence and determination (Breakwell & Jaspal, 2021). Children experiencing risk factors would note protective factors which necessitate their adaptation to changing events.
Additional theories vital for understanding risk and resilience in a child’s development include the Garmezy ecological resilience view (Wang et al., 2019). According to Garmezy, familial and individual levels and protective factors affect a child’s resilience. Garmezy argues that individual factors are dispositional features and help the child meet the new condition. On the other hand, familial factors are family warmth and cohesion (Armstrong et al., 2018). They would include the care and presence of the adult, while support factors include efficient maternal substitutes, the external system supports, and institutional structures fostered in the community (Waddoups et al., 2019). Garmezy’s research introduces three models to understand resilience. They include the compensatory model, vulnerability and protective model, and challenge model.
Risk Factors in Riley’s Life and Development
- Individual Risk Factors
In Riley’s case study, major individual risk factors are isolation and lack of social bonding, early onset of violent behaviors, persistent and early anti-social behavior, which include aggressive behaviors and moderately preterm birth, which according to Armstrong et al. (2018), affects her motor, language, and cognitive development. For example, Riley, a four-year-old, lacks social bonding, and she is heavily isolated. Riley’s dad, known as Billy, has been out and in of her life ever since she was born. Also, his stepdad Jamal is very sensitive. He heavily favors his interaction with his son David instead of Riley, which prompts her isolation, having feeling less loved and discriminated.
As noted in the Theory of risk and resilience, an individual experience in risk factors would affect their motor, language, and cognitive skills (van IJzendoorn et al., 2020). The latter is often vivid via their interaction level. Riley, for example, having experienced risk factors such as onset violent behavior between her mother Beverly and abusive and alcoholic father Billy; she is very sensitive, seems trivial frustrated, and finds it hard settling down due to how her cognitive and motor skills are affected.
- Family Risk Factors
The major risk factors affecting Riley’s aggressive, sensitive and frustrating behavior include her family history of alcohol abuse and violence. Riley witnesses Beverly, her mother, and her abusive and alcoholic father Billy’s fights. Additionally, she witnesses her family management obstacles such as a lack of clear behavioral expectations and family conflicts. Riley’s family conflict at a younger age impacts her life development.
According to the theory of risk and resilience, Riley is aggressive and sensitive, and constantly frustrated, which deters one’s language, cognitive, and motor outcomes. Theory of risk and resilience argues that family risk factors such as financial difficulties, family conflicts, and drug abuse impact the child’s development and appropriateness (Brooks-Gunn et al., 2021). According to Schwarz (2018), environmental stressors also impact the child’s behavior and developmental outcome.
iii. Community Risk Factors
A major community risk factor affecting Riley’s lifestyle and development is poverty. Particularly, Riley and her family live in an extremely socio-economic, deprived region. A socially deprived region impacts the child’s development as poverty adversely affects the child’s health (Lissak, 2018). Riley’s socioeconomic status has impacted adversely on her emotional, social, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes. Besides, other than affecting Beverly’s relationship and mental health and Billy’s high alcohol consumption, it has affected Riley’s self-regulatory actions and behaviors. According to the theory of risk and resilience, poverty affects the child’s sense of well-being and impulsive decision-making, psychological distress stressors (Brooks-Gunn et al., 2021). Children in low socio-economic environments are likely to be aggressive, sensitive, and frustrated while coping with various situations.
Resilience in Riley’s Life and Development and Protective Factors
Theory of risk and resilience defines resilience as the capacity for, the process of, or outcome of successfully adapting to circumstances despite threatening or challenging situations (Bowers et al., 2017). In Riley’s case study, Riley faces major challenges: isolation and lack of social bonding, early onset of violent behaviors, persistent and early anti-social behavior. Besides that, she witnesses risk factors ranging from her family to community risk factors. Other than witnessing her father’s violent behavior and constant substance abuse and her mother suffering from mental health, Riley consecutively experiences poverty. Poverty impacts her emotional, social, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes (Qouta et al., 2007). However, Garmezy ecological resilience view notes that one would successfully adapt to circumstances despite threatening or challenging situations.
Garmezy’s protective model and challenge model notes that resilience is the child’s capacity, despite life-threatening situations, to adapt successfully (Li et al., 2017). Riley, in the case study, adapts adhesively while living in a low socio-economic environment. Among the major protective factors noted in Garmezy’s protective model and challenge mode aiding Riley’s successful survival in the case study are affecting boding, competence, optimism, and overall environment.
- Bonding
Riley profoundly adapts to the environment despite major challenges because of the effective emotional commitment and attachment she gets from her mother Beverley, her step-brother David and Jamal, even if he sometimes discriminates against Riley. Additionally, Riley gets vast emotional attachment from Cath, Beverley’s mum, near their homestead. Besides helping David and Riley with daily adaptation in the community, Cath also focuses on Riley and David’s overall well-being by looking and taking care of them rampantly when their parents are out. According to Van Berkel et al. (2018), effective bonding helps the child adapt to life-threatening situations.
- Competence
Riley shows some cognitive, emotional, moral, behavioral, and social competence despite being a middle-aged child. According to the theory of risk factors and resilience, the five core personal competence help individuals adapt to life-threatening situations (Lloyd, 2018) successfully. Riley’s cognitive abilities help her show effective self-regulation and perceptions. Besides that, she values her family, self, and overall societal members, and that her general attractiveness and appeal are vivid through her interaction with Cath, her grandmother. Her behavioral and social competence is witnessed as she is energetic, friendly, confident, and whirlwind.
iii. Optimism
Despite her father’s treatment towards David and her and witnessing her father’s substance abuse and violent behavior, Riley still indicates self-efficacy and overall meaning of life. Also, via her interaction, she indicates a positive and clear identity with her family members. The latter, as noted by the theory of risk factors and resilience according to Horton & Wallander (2001) and Garmezy’s resilience view, help individuals adapt successfully to life-threatening conditions.
