Resilience is often operationalized as the presence of positive behaviors and the absence of negative behaviors without considering external factors (e.g., racial discrimination), potentially limiting one’s ability to control their outcomes. In a sample of 20 former foster youth, this study investigated internal and interpersonal resilience and betrayal trauma. A mixed-methods approach addressed two questions: (a) How resilient are former foster youth? and (b) Which factors examined correlate with resilience? I hypothesized that (1) resilience would positively correlate with emotion regulation and self-esteem and (2) negatively correlate with perceived stress, betrayal trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and that (3) betrayal trauma would positively correlate with PTSD and (4) negatively correlate with emotion regulation. Results demonstrated no correlation between resilience and emotion regulation or self-esteem; negative correlations between resilience and perceived stress, betrayal trauma, and PTSD; and insignificant correlations between betrayal trauma and PTSD and emotion regulation.
AllardC. B. (2007). The role of betrayal and culture on trauma sequelae in a Japanese sample [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Oregon.
2.
BerrickJ. D. (1998). When children cannot remain home: Foster family care and kinship care. The Future of Children, 8(1), 72–87. https://doi.org/10.2307/1602629
3.
BlevinsC. A.WeathersF. W.DavisM. T.WitteT. K.DominoJ. L. (2015). The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5): Development and initial psychometric evaluation. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 28(6), 489–498. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22059
CarrollA. (2018). Resilience in young adults who have exited from foster care [Poster presentation]. Sarah Lawrence College Poster Symposium, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, United States.
CohenS.KamarckT.MermelsteinR. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404
10.
CollinsM. E.SpencerR.WardR. (2010). Supporting youth in the transition from foster care: Formal and informal connections. Child welfare, 89(1), 125–143.
11.
Collin-VézinaD.ColemanK.MilneL.SellJ.DaigneaultI. (2011). Trauma experiences, maltreatment-related impairments, and resilience among child welfare youth in residential care. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 9(5), 577–589. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-011-9323-8
12.
CourtneyM. E.DworskyA. (2006). Early outcomes for young adults transitioning from out-of-home care in the USA. Child & Family Social Work, 11(3), 209–219. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2206.2006.00433.x
CromerL. D.FreydJ. J. (2007). What influences believing child sexual abuse disclosures? The roles of depicted memory persistence, participant gender, trauma history, and sexism. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31(1), 13–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00327.x
18.
CurryS. R.AbramsL. S. (2015). Housing and social support for youth aging out of foster care: State of the research literature and directions for future inquiry. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 32(2), 143–153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-014-0346-4
19.
DaigneaultI.DionJ.HébertM.McduffP.Collin-VézinaD. (2013). Psychometric properties of the child and youth resilience measure (CYRM-28) among samples of French Canadian youth. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37(2-3), 160–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.06.004
20.
DainingC.DePanfilisD. (2007). Resilience of youth in transition from out-of-home care to adulthood. Children and Youth Services Review, 29, 1159–1178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.04.006
21.
DoronG.SzepsenwolO.KarpE.GalN. (2013). Obsessing about intimate-relationships: Testing the double relationship-vulnerability hypothesis. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 44(4), 433–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2013.05.003
22.
EasterbrooksM. A.GinsburgK.LernerR. M. (2013). Resilience among military youth. The Future of Children, 23(2), 99–120. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2013.0014
23.
EdmondsG. W.HampsonS. E.CoteH. C. F.HillP. L.KlestB. (2016). Childhood personality, betrayal trauma, and leukocyte telomere length in adulthood: A lifespan perspective on conscientiousness and betrayal traumas as predictors of a biomarker of cellular ageing. European Journal of Personality, 30(5), 426–437. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2051
24.
FernandesA. L. (2008). Youth transitioning from foster care. Nova Science Publishers.
25.
FreydJ. J. (2008). Betrayal trauma. In ReyesG.ElhaiJ. D.FordJ. D. (Eds.), The encyclopedia of psychological trauma (p. 76). John Wiley & Sons.
26.
GoergeR. M.BilaverL.LeeB. J.NeedellB.BrookhartA.JackmanW. (2002). Employment outcomes for youth aging out of foster care. Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.
27.
GoldbergL. R.FreydJ. J. (2006). Self-reports of potentially traumatic experiences in an adult community sample: Gender differences and test-retest stabilities of the items in a brief betrayal-trauma survey. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 7(3), 39–63. https://doi.org/10.1300/J229v07n03_04
28.
GoldsteinA. L.FaulknerB.WerkerleC. (2013). The relationship among internal resilience, smoking, alcohol use, and depression symptoms in emerging adults transitioning out of child welfare. Child Abuse and Neglect, 37(1), 22–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.08.007
29.
GovenderK.CowdenR. G.Oppong AsanteK.GeorgeG.ReardonC. (2017). Validation of the child and youth resilience measure among South African adolescents. PLoS ONE, 12(10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185815
30.
GrossJ. J.JohnO. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348
31.
HassM.AllenQ.AmoahM. (2014). Turning points and resilience of academically successful foster youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 44, 387–392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.07.008
32.
HockingE. C.SimonsM. R.SuretteR. J. (2016). Attachment style as a mediator between childhood maltreatment and the experience of betrayal trauma as an adult. Child Abuse and Neglect, 52, 94–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.01.001
JohnsonA. J.TottenhamN. (2015). Regulatory skill as a resilience factor for adults with a history of foster care: A pilot study. Developmental Psychology, 57(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21227
35.
JonesL. (2012). Measuring resiliency and its predictors in recently discharged foster youth. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 29, 515–533. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-012-0275-z
KerigP. K.BennettD. C.ThompsonM.BeckerS. P. (2012). “Nothing really matters”: Emotional numbing as a link between trauma exposure and callousness in delinquent youth. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 25(3), 272–279. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21700
38.
KesslerR. C.SonnegaA.BrometE.HughesM.NelsonC. B. (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52(12), 1048–1060. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1995.03950240066012
39.
KirkR.DayA. (2011). Increasing college access for youth aging out of foster care: Evaluation of a summer camp program for foster youth transitioning from high school to college. Children and Youth Services Review, 33(7), 1173–1180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.02.018
Lueger-SchusterB.KnefelM.GluckT. M.JagschR.KantorV.WeindlD. (2018). Child abuse and neglect in institutional settings, cumulative lifetime traumatization, and psychopathological long-term correlates in adult survivors: The Vienna Institutional Abuse Study. Child Abuse and Neglect, 76, 488–501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.12.009
42.
MarriottC.Hamilton-GiachritsisC.HarropC. (2014). Factors promoting resilience following childhood sexual abuse: A structured, narrative review of the literature. Child Abuse Review, 23(1), 17–34. https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2258
43.
McMillenJ. C.ScottL. D.ZimaB. T.OllieM. T.MunsonM. R.SpitznagelE. (2004). Use of mental health services among older youths in foster care. Psychiatric Services, 55(7), 811–817. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.55.7.811
MunsonM. R.McMillenJ. C. (2009). Natural mentoring and psychosocial outcomes among older youth transitioning from foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 31(1), 104–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.06.003
O’BrienK.PecoraP. J.EchohawkL. A.Evans-CampbellT.Palmanteer-HolderN.WhiteC. R. (2010). Educational and employment achievements of American Indian/Alaska native alumni of foster care. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 91(2), 149–157. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.3974
49.
PecoraP. J.KesslerR.O’BrienK.WhiteC.WilliamsJ.HiripiE.EnglishD.WhiteJ.HerrickM. (2006). Educational and employment outcomes of adults formerly placed in foster care: Results from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. Children and Youth Services Review, 28(12), 1459–1481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2006.04.003
PimentelC.MarcellyF.SantosJ.Guedes OliveiraK.BiancaN.CoutoR.BritoT. (2018). Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale: Brazilian adaptation and relationship with personality and prosocial behavior. Psico-USF, 23(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-82712018230101
52.
RobinsR. W.HendinH. M.TrzesniewskiK. H. (2001). Measuring global self-esteem: Construct validation of a single-item measure and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(2), 151–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167201272002
53.
SamuelsG. M.PryceJ. M. (2007). “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”: Survivalist self-reliance as resilience and risk among young adults aging out of foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 30(10), 1198–1210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.03.005
54.
SandersJ.MunfordR. (2014). Youth-centered practice: Positive youth development practices and pathways to become outcomes for vulnerable youth. Child and Youth Services Review, 46, 160–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.08.020
55.
SandersJ.MunfordR.Thimasarn-AnwarT.LiebenbergL.UngarM. (2015). The role of positive youth development practices in building resilience and enhancing wellbeing for at-risk youth. Child Abuse and Neglect, 42, 40–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.02.006
UngarM.LiebenbergL.BoothroydR.KwongW. M.LeeT. Y.LeblancJ.DuqueL.MakhnachA. (2008). The study of youth resilience across cultures: Lessons from a pilot study of measurement development. Research in Human Development, 5(3), 166–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427600802274019
62.
UngarM.LiebenbergL.DuddingP.ArmstrongM.VijverF. J. R. (2013). Patterns of service use, individual and contextual risk factors, and resilience among adolescents using multiple psychosocial services. Child Abuse and Neglect, 37(2–3), 150–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.05.007
63.
VaughnM. G.ShookJ. T.McMillenJ. C. (2008). Aging out of foster care and legal involvement: Toward a typology of risk. Social Service Review, 82(3), 419–446. https://doi.org/10.1086/592535
WeathersF. W.LitzB.HermanD.HuskaJ. A.KeaneT. (1993). The PTSD checklist (PCL): Reliability, validity, and diagnostic utility [Paper presentation]. The Annual Convention of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, San Antonio, TX, United States.
66.
WeathersF. W.LitzB. T.KeaneT. M.PalmieriP. A.MarxB. P.SchnurrP. P. (2013). The PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). http://www.ptsd.va.gov/
67.
WindleG.BennettK. M.NoyesJ. (2011). A methodological review of resilience measurement scales. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 9(8). https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-9-8
