Multidimensional Family Resilience Assessment: The Individual,Family, and Community Resilience (IFCR) Profile

The goal of this study was to develop a broad, multidimensional assessment of individual, family, and community resilience for use in evaluating socioeconomic mobility programs. The Individual, Family, and Community Resilience Profile (IFCR) is a broad, multidimensional measure that evaluates multiple ecological levels of resilience. Based on a sample of 650 low-income families, this study demonstrates the initial reliability of the 75-item IFCR. This evaluation tool assesses 20 separate dimensions of constructs often associated with resilience. The IFCR provided strong reliability with interitem reliability coefficients ranging from α = .71 to.93. The IFCR also showed strong predictive abilities for education levels, employment, and mental health. We also present benchmark scaling of the IFCR for use in practice and future research.     

The Role of Family and Marital Communication in Developing Resilience to Family-of-Origin Adversity

To explain recovery from adverse experiences, researchers have focused on resilience as a process occurring within individuals. This study extends existing research by positioning resilience as an interpersonal process in which people communicatively interpret and respond to adversity. Married participants who experienced significant adversity in their family of origin (n = 193) reported on their familial and marital communication and personal characteristics. Overall, resilience was influenced by the unique and combined influences of individual, marital, and family factors. Individuals’ optimism and efficacy emerged as predictors of resilience, and communicated support from a marital partner was particularly important for those lower in optimism. People from families with a balance of cohesion and flexibility and strong communication were more resilient, regardless of the amount of adversity they experienced. In unbalanced families, supportive marital communication served in a compensatory role to promote resilience to family of origin adversity.     

Resilience in parenting among young mothers: Family and ecological risks and opportunities

The present study used a person-centered approach to examine resilience in parenting among a sample of young mothers (under age 21 at childbirth). Resilient functioning as a parent was defined as the lack of perpetration of child maltreatment (substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect) in the context of risk. Risk factors were assessed at multiple levels, including family (e.g., negative childhood histories in family of origin) and ecological (e.g., neighborhood poverty, mother's financial stress) levels. Analyses revealed a group of mothers who demonstrated resilience in parenting despite a context of substantial risks from their childhood histories (e.g., negative family relationships) and current ecologies (e.g., economic and neighborhood conditions). Mothers in the resilient group were less likely to a) live with their families of origin, and b) to rely on their own mothers as sources of emotional or caregiving support. Data also indicated that young mothers' resilient functioning as parents was associated with higher rates of depressive symptoms among these mothers, perhaps suggesting a “cost” or limit to resilient parenting functioning in young mothers. Results are discussed in a resilience framework.     

The Role of Self-Conscious Emotions in the Sexual Health of Gay and Bisexual Men: Psychometric Properties and Theoretical Validation of the Sexual Shame and Pride Scale

Researchers have theorized about the role of sexual shame as a mechanism through which sexual minority stress manifests into mental health difficulties, such as sexual compulsivity for gay and bisexual men (GBM), and about the resilience-promoting effects of sexual pride. However, no validated measures to date have directly tapped into these constructs rather than using proxies for them, such as internalized homonegativity. We developed the Sexual Shame and Pride Scale (SSPS) and conducted a psychometric evaluation of it using a sample of 260 highly sexually active GBM. The scale had the expected structure in factor analysis and showed evidence of internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Correlational analyses demonstrated the convergent validity of sexual shame and sexual pride with relevant constructs. Regression analyses demonstrated the predictive validity of sexual shame in relation to sexual compulsivity, accounting for unique variability even after adjusting for previously demonstrated etiological factors, and the predictive validity of both shame and pride, which interacted to consistently predict four sexual behavior outcomes. Findings suggest the SSPS is a psychometrically valid and reliable measure that may be useful in future empirical work and highlight preliminary evidence for the role of these constructs in the sexual health of GBM.     

Family Risk and Resilience in the Context of War and Terrorism

War and terrorism are exerting increasing force on world affairs, with growing implications for families and the scholars who study them. In this review, I consider the implications of mass violence for families, with particular emphasis on families with members serving in the U.S. military and families around the world who live where mass violence occurs. Mass violence poses significant threats to mental health and family functioning, but individuals and families also display striking levels of resilience.     

A reliability generalization meta-analysis of coefficient alpha and test–retest coefficient for the aging males’ symptoms (AMS) scale

Purpose: The aging males’ symptoms (AMS) scale is an instrument used to determine the health-related quality of life in adult and elderly men. The purpose of this study was to synthesize internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) and test–retest reliability for the AMS scale and its three subscales.

Methods: Of the 123 studies reviewed, 12 provided alpha coefficients which were then used in the meta-analyses of internal consistency. Seven of the 12 included studies provided test–retest coefficients, and these were used in the meta-analyses of test–retest reliability.

Results: The AMS scale had excellent internal consistency [α?=?0.89 (95% CI 0.88–0.90)]; the mean alpha estimates across the AMS subscales ranged from 0.79 to 0.82. The AMS scale also had good test–retest reliability [r?=?0.85 (95% CI 0.82–0.88]; the test–retest reliability coefficients of the AMS subscales ranged from 0.76 to 0.83. There was significant heterogeneity among the included studies.

Conclusions: The AMS scale and the three subscales had fairly good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Future psychometric studies of the AMS scale should report important characteristics of the participants, details of item scores, and test–retest reliability.     

Comparing developmental outcomes for children in care with those for other children in Canada

This study assessed the test–retest reliability and convergent validity of single items from the Assessment and Action Record (AAR), from Looking After Children (Ward, 1995). It also compared developmental outcomes of 43 children cared for by a Canadian child welfare agency and those of an approximate comparison group of 1,600 children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (Statistics Canada, 1995). High and low reliability and validity were found for different AAR items. The children in care had worse outcomes than the comparison children on indicators of educational success and negative behaviour, but not on measures of identity, social and family relationships, or prosocial behaviour.     

Determining the Appropriateness of the “What If” Situations Test (WIST) with Turkish Pre-Schoolers

Measurement instruments are needed to assess the child’s sexual abuse prevention program. The purpose of the study was to determine the reliability and validity of the WIST (What If Situations Test) for Turkish culture. Participants were children of the 3–6 age group attending pre-school education institutions and the sample size was identified by means of a power analysis. Seventy children were identified as the sample with 0.85 power and 0.05 type I error according to the power analysis. Language validity, content validity, internal validity coefficient (Cronbach alpha coefficient), and test–retest analyses were conducted in terms of validity and reliability in the scope of efforts for adaptation to Turkish culture. Firstly, Kendall W = 0.83 was the score for the expert opinions concerning the content validity of the language validity scale. It was found that the Cronbach alpha coefficients were between 0.68 and 0.90 for the scale sub-dimensions of appropriate and inappropriate recognition, saying, doing, telling, and reporting. The test–retest reliability of the scale was found to be r = 0.89 and the test–retest reliabilities for the sub-dimensions (appropriate recognition, inappropriate recognition, say skills, do skills, tell skills, and reporting skills) were between r = 0.48 and r = 0.92. The test–retest reliability for the Personal Safety Questionnaire (PSQ), as having complimentary items to the WIST, was found to be r = 0.82. The reliability and validity analysis of the ‘What If’ Situations Test (WIST), used to evaluate pre-schoolers’ skills regarding self-protection against sexual abuse, showed that the Test’s adaptation to Turkish culture was reliable and valid.     

Assessing Family Outcomes: Psychometric Evaluation of the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale

There is currently a lack of reliable scales with which to assess the construct of family quality of life, particularly for families who have children with disabilities. The current work presents 2 studies, including a total of 488 families with children with disabilities, which were conducted to complete the development of a scale to assess family quality of life. The measure was refined through confirmatory factor analyses into 25 items that assess 5 domains of Family Quality of Life: Family Interaction, Parenting, Emotional Well‐Being, Physical/Material Well‐Being, and Disability‐Related Support. Each subscale was found to be unidimensional and internally consistent. An initial examination of test‐retest reliability and convergent validity is also presented. Implications for future research, scale use, and policy are discussed.     

Measuring Walsh’s Family Resilience Framework: Reliability and Validity of the Family Resilience Assessment Among Women with a History of Breast Cancer

Walsh’s family resilience framework presents a comprehensive and inclusive lens of family process that may assist clinicians, family service professionals, and health care providers with understanding the functioning of individuals and families in their care. A mechanism for using this framework is needed, as is empirical evidence of its cogency. This article reports on the development of the Family Resilience Assessment, a 29-item survey intended to assess dimensions of Walsh’s framework. The Family Resilience Assessment is presented as a reliable and valid mechanism for assessing the family resilience framework. Results of the use of the survey with women with a history of breast cancer demonstrate that it is a reliable instrument with content and construct validity.     

Not Broken but Strengthened: Stories of Resilience by Persons with Acquired Physical Disability and Their Families

This study seeks to understand the processes in families of resilient individuals with an acquired physical disability. Specifically, we were interested in getting to know more about the role of the family in the individuals’ resilience, and in turn, the impact on the family of the individuals’ disability and resilience. A multiple‐case narrative methodology with three families was adopted. In total 19 family members participated in the construction of three stories. This described how the families were transformed and how family members continually moved and energised one another in virtuous circles of support. Empathy and altruism were motivators for these virtuous circles whilst adequate amounts of support contained the experience of each family member. Identifying, strengthening, and building on these relational processes was found to be vital in enabling both the individuals affected by disability and their families to grow following their adversity.     

Examining the Relationships Between Resilience,Mental Health,and Academic Persistence in Undergraduate College Students

Abstract

Objective: In this study, the relationships between measures of interpersonal resilience, intrapersonal resilience, and mental health were examined with respect to academic and social integration, key determinants of academic persistence. Participants: A sample (n = 605) of undergraduate students was recruited from 2 midwestern universities during the 2007–2008 academic year. Methods: Hierarchal (or sequential) regression analysis examined whether the inter- and intrapersonal resilience and mental health measures contributed to explaining variance in the response variables of university cumulative grade point average (GPA) and university sense of belonging. Results: The intrapersonal resilience factors contributed to explaining variance in cumulative GPA in addition to aptitude and achievement. Furthermore, there was a strong statistical correlation between the inter- and intrapersonal resilience factors and mental health. Conclusions: The demands in college are significant and there is a need for more research on the concept of resilience as it relates to college health and academic persistence.     

Construction and validation of Rejection Sensitive Expectation,Perception, and Reaction Questionnaire—Partner (RSEPR-P)

The Rejection Sensitive Expectation, Perception, and Reaction Questionnaire—Partner (RSEPR-P) was developed to assess rejection expectation, perception of rejection, and reactions to perceived rejection among intimate partners. This article details the construction and validation procedures, including item pool generation, factor analysis, and the estimation of reliability and validity. The researchers examined the psychometric properties of RSEPR-P in a community sample of 151 participants. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with the final 24 items suggested four-factor loading with each subscale loading on a separate factor. The subscales had good to excellent internal consistency. In support of the convergent validity, RSEPR-P exhibited robust correlations with rejection sensitivity-personal, mindfulness, marital adjustment, and self-esteem measures. A 6-month test–retest reliability was established. RSEPR-P is proposed to have potential therapeutic and research utility.     

Family Resilience Predicts Socioeconomic Mobility of HUD Participants

Changing economic times and government policies are reshaping the way the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides services nationwide; there is both a growing demand for housing and a desire to help families become self-sufficient. In this study, the authors examined factors that contribute to increased socioeconomic mobility through the lens of family resilience. Analyzing cross-sectional data from 411 families in the San Bernardino County HUD District using discriminant function analysis, results of this study show strong preliminary evidence that certain components of family resilience predict whether an individual head of household will have full-time employment. The results of this study provide implications for social service programs aimed at socioeconomic mobility.     

Readings in Evidence-Based Social Work

Abstract

This article describes the development, validity, and reliability of the Parent Empowerment and Efficacy Measure (PEEM). Development was guided by theory and by challenges faced by Pathways to Prevention family support staff who required a short, practical, and reliable measure of parent empowerment. The measure's psychometric properties were tested using data from 866 parents of children aged 5 to 12, living in high to low socioeconomic status areas. Principal factor analysis revealed a strong general dimension with high internal consistency (α = 0.92) that correlated at 0.60 or more with three validation measures, as well as the existence of two hypothesised subfactors (correlated at 0.78): efficacy to parent and efficacy to connect, each with internal consistencies of 0.85+. Test–retest reliability (n = 200) was 0.84. PEEM exhibits excellent convergent and concurrent validity and is a reliable tool for use in planning services, monitoring participant progress, and evaluating program effectiveness.     

Varied Patterns of Family Resilience in Challenging Contexts

While we know much about patterns of family resilience, most of our research and clinical discussion has focused on microsystemic, intrafamilial protective processes. We have far fewer maps of the bidirectional interactions between families and other systems that contribute to successful family adaptation in challenging contexts. The purpose of this article is to address this gap in knowledge and present a map of family resilience that is both systemic and contextually and culturally responsive. Seven specific patterns of family resilience are reviewed. Combined, they account for the varied adaptational patterns families use to nurture and sustain resilience. The article concludes with reflection on how we can assess family resilience and the application of this map to family therapy. Video Abstract     

Risk,Recovery and Resilience

Abstract

From 1999 to 2004, the Child and Youth Care Agency for Development (CYAD), a South African Non-Government Agency (NGO), has been working in partnership with the University of Victoria's International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD) and Aboriginal Liaison Office (ABLO) to identify and reinforce community and cultural assets in supporting child and family resilience. The project, entitled Circles of Care: Community and Support for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS, has developed and piloted a model for community capacity building that supports traditional African community values, beliefs and governance structures (understood as Setso) in reinforcing child resilience through child rights based advocacy that partners children and traditional leaders (identified as Morena) and healers (called Dingaka).     

Resilience Within the Family Networks of Lesbians and Gay Men: Intentionality and Redefinition

This article reviews the literature on gay and lesbian family networks as a way to identify the resilience processes that enable members to create and strengthen their family networks. Two processes, intentionality and redefinition, were identified. Intentionality refers to behavioral strategies that legitimize and support relationships. Redefinition refers to meaning making strategies that create linguistic and symbolic structures to affirm one's network. Brief comparisons are made to the literature on resilience in ethnic minority families, and careful study of the similarities and differences between gay and lesbian family networks, and other marginalized families, is urged.     

Measuring risk and protective factors for substance use,delinquency, and other adolescent problem behaviors. The Communities That Care Youth Survey

Risk and protective factors predictive of adolescent problem behaviors such as substance abuse and delinquency are promising targets for preventive intervention. Community planners should assess and target risk and protective factors when designing prevention programs. This study describes the development, reliability, and validity of a self-report survey instrument for adolescents ages 11 to 18 that measures an array of risk and protective factors across multiple ecological domains as well as adolescent problem behaviors. The instrument can be used to assess the epidemiology of risk and protection in youth populations and to prioritize specific risk and protective factors in specific populations as targets for preventive intervention.     

The Family Unpredictability Scale: Reliability and Validity

We developed the Family Unpredictability Scale (FUS) to better understand the factors that underlie the presence and consequences of family dysfunction. Familial unpredictability is defined as a lack of consistency in family behaviors and regulatory systems. Family researchers and therapists generated and evaluated items, which were self‐administered by married parents who had children aged 2 to 18 (N= 314 ). Principal‐components analysis yielded four subscales (discipline, nurturance, meals, and money; 22 items total) that were internally consistent; confirmatory factor analysis based on a separate subsample yielded an adequate preliminary representation of this factor structure. The FUS related significantly to known measures of family and individual functioning but not to social desirability. The present study provides preliminary reliability, construct validity, and concurrent validity for this new multidimensional, self‐report assessment of family unpredictability. Research and clinical implications are discussed.