Research on resilience to child maltreatment: empirical considerations

doi:10.1016/S0145-2134(99)00007-1

Child Abuse & Neglect

Volume 23, Issue 4, April 1999, Pages 321-338

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(99)00007-1 Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: To review the current research literature on resilience to maltreatment in childhood and adolescence.

Method: First, this paper addresses the methodological issues applicable to this area of research. Second, it reviews the empirical literature on the protective factors believed to contribute to resilience to maltreatment and offers commentary on specific issues raised in each study.

Results: The current findings are summarized and an integrated descriptive picture, based on the extant literature of the processes and factors contributing to the development of resilience to childhood maltreatment is outlined.

Conclusion: Based on this extensive review and critique of the current empirical literature on resilience to maltreatment, suggestions for future investigations in this area are recommended.

Spanish abstract not available at time of publication.

Résumé

Objectif: Passer en revue la littérature concernant les recherches récentes sur la résistance des enfants et des adolescents à la maltraitance.

Méthode: Premièrement cet article reprend les aspects méthodologiques, qui sont aplicables dans ce domaine de la recherche. Deuxièmement, l’article passe en revue la littérature empirique concernant les facteurs protecteurs qui contribueraient à la résistance en cas de maltraitance commente les aspects spécifiques de chaque étude.

Résultats: Les données récentes sont résumées et une image intégrée et descriptive est rendue à partir d’une revue étendue de la littérature concernant les processus et les facteurs qui contribuent à l’élaboration d’une résistance à la maltraitance au cours de l’enfance.

Conclusion: Des suggestions pour des recherches futures dans ce domaine sont élaborées à partir d’une revue étendue et crituque de la littérature récente empirique sur la résistance à la maltraitance.

Introduction

STUDIES FOCUSING ON the short- and long-term effects of adverse childhood experiences have long been of primary importance to both researchers and clinicians interested in developmental processes. Developmental psychopathology principles recently have been applied to this research, particularly in the study of the sequelae of childhood maltreatment (Cicchetti & Toth, 1995). These principles suggest that exposure to a given heritable trait or environmental experience is moderated by a host of associated risk and protective factors, eventually leading to a variety of phenotypic expressions. These expressions may range from individuals with severe psychopathology to those who are seemingly well-adapted.

The last three decades have seen a remarkable increase in the reporting and study of child maltreatment. Because data on the prevalence of child maltreatment are affected by local and national definitions of what constitutes maltreatment, they fluctuate as definitions change; tracking trends in child maltreatment and accurately estimating costs associated with it are exceedingly difficult Cicchetti and Toth 1995, Knutson 1995. The most recent epidemiologic data suggest that there are over 2 million reports of child maltreatment (including neglect) in the United States annually. Approximately half of these reports are validated as meeting local criteria for maltreatment by state-run child protective service agencies (National Research Council, 1993).

There have been numerous reports of the short- and long-term physical and mental sequelae of child maltreatment. Recent reviews document the wide variety of outcomes related to child maltreatment, with the most frequent being related to its debilitating psychological effects (Knutson, 1995). To date, individuals who have experienced maltreatment and seek clinical intervention receive a wide variety of treatments. Efforts at preventing maltreatment or its sequelae have not been undertaken on a wide scale and, as yet, there are few data about their effectiveness (Thyen, Thiessen, & Heinsohn-Krug, 1995).

One of the interesting recent research questions has been, what are the factors related to relatively uncompromised functioning after the experience of child maltreatment? Study of resilience in the face of a known risk factor for mental health sequelae is likely to identify processes which inform clinical intervention and preventive efforts (Spaccarelli & Kim, 1995). This work is particularly important because currently there is little consensus about which are the most effective approaches to treatment of maltreated children and adults (Cicchetti & Toth, 1995).

We will review the literature on resilience to maltreatment, organizing this paper in three main sections. First, we will address the myriad methodological considerations that shape interpretation of data on maltreatment in childhood. Second, we will review the literature which specifically attempts to measure resilience to childhood maltreatment with some commentary on the methodological issues specific to each study. We draw some conclusions about the research to date and suggest areas for future investigation. The final goal of this paper is to propose a plan of action regarding standards for future research.

Section snippets

Resilience review & measurement issues

Resilience has been defined as “the process of, capacity for, or outcome of successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances” (Masten, Best, & Garmezy, 1990, p. 426). On the surface, this definition of resilience is simple in that it requires competent functioning despite exposure to one or more risk factors. Yet, there are several proposed theoretical models that attempt to explain the processes involved with resilience, each of which incorporates numerous complex terms

Protective factors associated with resilience

Now we will review the empirical literature in order to highlight factors that have been associated with resilience to the effects of maltreatment. The studies described below involve research on individuals who have been physically or sexually abused or neglected as children or adolescents, yet do not appear to have developed adverse behaviors typically associated with maltreatment (e.g., poor physical growth, language and cognitive delays, aggression, lack of empathy, difficulty with peer

The construct of resilience

At this stage in the research on resilience, there is as much discussion about models and theories as there are data. Even the published studies reviewed above use varying definitions of resilience and measure widely different outcomes. In the extant literature it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine which protective factors are causally related to which risk factors (Zimmerman & Arunkumar, 1994). In this vein, Rutter (1990) has argued that the field must move beyond focusing on single

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Charles H. Zeanah, M.D., and Gerianne Alexander, Ph.D., for their comments on a prior version of this paper.

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Original ArticlesResearch on resilience to child maltreatment: empirical considerations

Abstract

Résumé

Introduction

Section snippets

Resilience review & measurement issues

Protective factors associated with resilience

The construct of resilience

Acknowledgements

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Child Abuse & Neglect

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Child Abuse & Neglect

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Journal of School Psychology

Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problemsImplications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity

Psychological Bulletin

Boys and girlsThe development of gender roles

The role of ego-control and ego-resiliency in the organization of behavior

Attachment and loss (Vol. 2); Separation, anger and anxiety

Child abuse and traumaTheory and treatment of the lasting effects

Resilience in maltreated childrenProcesses leading to adaptive outcome

Development and Psychopathology

A review of adult attachment measuresImplications for theory and research

Social Development

Mobility as a mediator of the effects of child maltreatment on academic performance

Child Development

Resilience as process

Development and Psychopathology

The effects of maltreatment on the development of young children

Invulnerability among abused and neglected children

Of the way we wereAdult memories about attachment experiences and their role in determining infant-parent relationships: A commentary on van Ijzendoorn

Psychological Bulletin

Representational models of relationshipsLinks between caregiving and attachment

Infant Mental Health Journal

Resilent early school-age children from maltreating homesOutcomes in late adolescence

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

Original Articles
Research on resilience to child maltreatment: empirical considerations