Citation

Oshri A, Topple TA, Carlson MW. Child Dev. 2017; 88(4): 1087-1099.

Affiliation

University of Georgia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/cdev.12865

PMID

28653393

Abstract

Maltreated children are a vulnerable population, yet many of these youth follow positive developmental pathways. The primary aim was to identify social skills growth trajectories among at-risk youth to understand processes underlying resilience. Nationally representative, longitudinal data from 1,179 families investigated for child maltreatment (Mage  = 12.75) were obtained from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Four trajectories were identified-stress-resistant, emergent resilience, breakdown, and unresponsive-maladaptive. Protective resources from multiple levels of the youth ecology (individual, family, school, and social service) predicted positive growth social skills trajectories. Resilience process and attendant positive outcomes in multiple domains of functioning were evident among the stress-resistant and emergent resilience trajectories.

RESULTS underscore the saliency of social skills development for resilient outcomes in youth.

© 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Language: en