Children's Resilience to Family Financial Insecurity. Carleigh Schley

Transcription

1 Children's Resilience to Family Financial Insecurity 1 Carleigh Schley

2 Child Abuse 2 Physical Force of violence that results in injury Sexual Any unwanted sexual contact Emotional Psychological abuse Ritual Mix of physical and sexual abuse Neglect Failure to provide for immediate needs of the child Any act of commission or omission on a child (Schumacher, 1999)

3 Resilience 3 What is resilience? Capacity for successfully adapting to adverse and traumatic life events Emotional/Behavioral Problems Mental health Physiologically Personality Traits Doing better than expected based on circumstance Abused but not aggressive (Jaffee, 2008)

4 How can Resilience be achieved? 4 Children who master normative developmental tasks despite their experiences High self-esteem Above average intelligence (Luthar, 2000)

5 Identifying Resilience 5 Depends on total number of stressors Positive family changes Removal to foster care Children who are maltreated grow up in multi-problem households (Cicchetti, 1997 & Davydov, 2010)

6 Economic Stressors 6 A form of chronic stress Low Income Financial needs and wants Periods of unemployment Affect child victim s coping strategies (Robson, 2013)

7 Cortisol 7 The stress hormone Stress activates cortisol secretion (adrenal glands) Influences, regulates, and modulates many bodily changes High cortisol levels can have negative effects (Jaffee, 2008)

8 Cortisol in this Study 8 Salivary Cortisol -> Biomarker of stress Psychological Questionnaires Cortisol Reactivity Exposure to real-life stressors or by using laboratory-induced stressors Overall Cortisol Levels Higher cortisol level -> more stressed Diurnal cycle Cortisol levels change based upon different complications (Jaffee, 2008)

9 Research Questions 9 To what degree are economic stressors and household income associated with higher levels of cortisol reactivity and a child s behavioral mental health? To what degree do social support or coping mechanisms modify the relationship between economic stressors, household income, higher levels of cortisol reactivity and behavioral mental health?

10 Hypotheses 10 H1: Children who experience relatively high levels of economic stressors and low household income will have more emotional and behavioral problems than children who experience fewer economic stressors with a higher income. H2: Children who experience relatively high levels of economic stressors and low household income will show an increase in cortisol reactivity than children who experience fewer economic stressors with a higher income. H3: Higher levels of economic stress and low household income will be associated with higher levels of behavioral problems for kids who have low levels of social support, but not for kids who have high levels of social support. H4: Higher levels of economic stress and low household income will be associated with higher levels of cortisol reactivity for kids who have low levels of social support, but not for kids who have high levels of social support.

11 Participants 11 Children s Experiences and Development Study 400 Participants Southeast and Northwest England 51.2% Male 48.8% Female 69.9% White 6.8% Black Remaining percentage of Asian and other cultural backgrounds

12 Measures (Questionnaires) Income and Finances 12 Children s Coping Strategies Checklist Problem Focused Coping & Positive Cognitive Restructuring Cortisol Reactivity Behavioral Problems Child and Adolescent Symptom Inventory Conduct Disorder (CD) Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD)

13 Construct the Data File Methods Minimize the preexisting data 13 The Descriptive Step Observe frequency distributions Answers the question: What do the data and correlations look like? Testing Hypotheses Hierarchal regression analysis If significant interaction -> graphing

14 Data Analysis 14 Positive Correlation Economic hardships Change in cortisol Behavioral problems Negative Correlation Behavioral Problems Both Coping Mechanisms Medicine variable construction

15 Hierarchical Regression 15 To test the main and interactive effects Entered at two steps: The main effect The interaction term

16 Behavioral Problems Used as Outcome 16 No significant interaction term -> main effect Economic hardships have a positive affect on behavioral problems Positive Cognitive Restructuring and Problem focused coping have a negative affect on behavioral problems

17 Cortisol Reactivity 17 Used as Outcome Significant interaction (P-Value less than.05) Household Income: and Economic Stressors: and Crossover Analysis/Interaction Plot

18 Economic Hardships on Coping Strategies 18 Economic hardships increase as cortisol reactivity increases only amongst high scoring children Economic hardships increase when cortisol reactivity decreases only amongst low scoring children. Blue - Low Score Red - High Score

19 Household Income on Coping Strategies 19 High income is associated with low levels of cortisol reactivity only amongst high scoring children. High income is associated with high levels of cortisol reactivity only amongst low scoring children. Blue - Low Score Red - High Score

20 Significance Hypotheses supported 20 Used in social groups to help children become aware of coping mechanisms Better familial relationships/better adolescent development Limitations Hard to address cause and effect conclusions Future Research Concrete questionnaires

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