"Like A Mouse Pursued By the Snake": A Qualitative Metasynthesis on the Experiences of Revictimization Among Women Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Partner Violence

A metasynthesis was performed on 15 qualitative studies to document the experience of revictimization by an intimate partner among women, based on survivors' perspectives on their sustained childhood sexual abuse and intimate partner violence victimization. Results identified two main conceptual categories: (a) Barriers to action: A belief system reflecting learned helplessness that hinders women's abilities to protect themselves and prevent further abuses, and (b) Broken internal compass: Cognitive elements blurring women's risk evaluation capacities and reference points limiting their ability to break the cycle of revictimization. These findings support the need to examine cognitive distortions and false beliefs in intervention practices and suggest valuable guidelines for practitioners. As the responsibility for violence always lies with the perpetrator, this study should not be interpreted as blaming women for their victimization, but instead, as a way to give women a voice about their experiences and give them a sense of power in the prevention of violence.

Lived experiences of resilience for women who have experienced childhood sexual abuse: A systematic review of qualitative studies

BACKGROUND

Child sexual abuse (CSA) can have detrimental, long-lasting consequences but effects are diverse, and resilience, or attainment of better-than-expected outcomes, is possible.

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review synthesises qualitative research findings about lived experiences of resilience processes used by women who had been subjected to CSA.

METHODS

A comprehensive search was undertaken of major and minor article databases (e.g., PsychInfo, Medline, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus) and Google Scholar, with hand searching of reference lists and forward searching of retrieved articles. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria (peer-reviewed qualitative or mixed methods studies written in English about experiences of resilience by women who had experienced CSA). Data extraction, quality appraisal, and thematic analysis were performed.

RESULTS

Thematic analysis generated several process-related resilience themes: distancing oneself from sexual abuse; building healthy interpersonal, community, and cultural connections; drawing on spiritual belief systems; reframing the sexual abuse; placing blame with the perpetrator; reclaiming self-worth; taking control of one's life; and pursuing meaningful goals. For some, it involved forgiveness of self and others, reclaiming one's sexuality, and/or fighting against diverse forms of oppression. There was much evidence that resilience was a dynamic, personal and social-ecological phenomenon.

CONCLUSION

Counsellors and other professionals can use these findings to help women affected by CSA explore, develop, and strengthen factors that support resilience. Future research could explore the experiences of resilience for women with different cultural backgrounds, socioeconomic status, religious and/or spiritual affiliations.

The sporting resilience model: A systematic review of resilience in sport performers

We systematically reviewed resilience research in sport and exercise psychology. Sample included 92 studies comprising empirical qualitative and quantitative studies, mixed-method studies, review studies and conceptual/theoretical studies on psychological resilience in sports context. From the findings, we synthesized an evidence-based sport-specific definition and meta-model of "Sporting Resilience." The review incorporates evidence from global culture contexts and evidence synthesized into the new definition and meta-model to achieve its aim. Conceptual detail and testability of the operational definition is provided. Sporting resilience provides a guiding framework for research and applied practice in a testable, objective manner. The new theoretical meta-model of resilience is derived from systematic evidence from sport psychology with theoretical considerations from positive and clinical psychology allowing generalizability. This original theory posits that there is a resilience filter comprised of biopsychosocial protective factors. The strength of this filter determines the impact of adversity and establishes the trajectory of positive adaptation. The findings of the review are used to discuss potential avenues of future research for psychological resilience in sports psychology.

Systematic review registration

https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/AFWRU.

Exploring the mediating effects of negative and positive religious coping between resilience and mental well-being

Background:

The purpose of the study was to examine more thoroughly the relationship between trait resilience and mental well-being. Although research demonstrates that this relationship is partially mediated by stress-related variables, no study has taken into account the mediating role of religious coping. We examined the mediating role of both variants of religious coping, positive and negative, along with specific strategies within the scope of religious coping strategies in a group of practicing Catholics.

Method:

Participants were 317 people aged 19–60 years (M = 24.34; SD = 6.30). The respondents indicated their gender and age, and then completed the RS-14 (trait resilience), RCOPE (religious coping), and WEMWBS (mental well-being) scales.

Results:

The results displayed a significant relationship between resilience and mental well-being (r = 0.67; p < 0.001). The relationship between resilience and positive religious coping was negligible (r = 0.09; p = 0.74), contrary to the relationship between resilience and negative coping that was significant but weak (r = −0.29; p < 0.001). Although the relationships between overall negative and positive religious coping with mental well-being were irrelevant, we found significant relationships between some strategies and mental well-being. The mediation analysis has demonstrated that the general negative religious coping and the strategies of demonic reappraisal, passive religious deferral, and spiritual discontent have enhanced the positive relationship between resilience and mental well-being. Contrary to expectation, positive strategies did not mediate the relationship between resilience and mental well-being, except religious practices (c′path totaled β = 0.66; t = 15.74, p < 0.001). The insignificant mediation effect can stem from the fact that the relationship between positive religious coping and stress is noticeable only in the long term. We controlled age and sex as statistically significant covariates so that the mediation effects obtained were devoid of the influence of those critical variables on the models.

Conclusion:

This is the first study to investigate the role of religious coping as a mediator in the relationship between resilience and mental well-being.

Predictive effect of resilience on self-efficacy during the COVID-19 pandemic: The moderating role of creativity

INTRODUCTION

To appraise the relationship and mechanism between resilience and self-efficacy in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we proposed a model to investigate the effect of resilience on self-efficacy and the moderating effect of creativity in this regard.

METHODS

Scales that measured resilience, creative behavior, and self-efficacy were rated by 881 college students in China to establish the moderating model.

RESULTS

The results showed that resilience and self-efficacy of participating college students were positively correlated, which meant that high resilience could predict a high level of self-efficacy. Moderating analysis using the SPSS PROCESS plug-in showed that creativity was an important element of resilience that positively affected self-efficacy and that this moderating effect was more significant in participants with a high degree of creativity.

DISCUSSION

These findings can provide a better understanding of the relationship between resilience and self-efficacy in demonstrating the traumatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent mental health and academic performance.

Why I said #MeToo: An Exploration of the Purpose of Disclosure Among Indian Women

The surge of sexual abuse disclosures by women during the #MeToo movement raised awareness about an important social issue that has garnered much attention. However, apart from the changes the movement initiated, the issue of why women chose to disclose in the context of the movement has not been extensively examined. Why women disclose such a sensitive topic in the public domain, often via social media, within the Indian cultural context, where matters such as sexual abuse are considered taboo, warrants further examination. This article explores the reasons for disclosure among Indian women participating in the #MeToo movement, through qualitative research, using the interpretative phenomenological approach. The emergent themes include reactions to the injustice, expectations of validation and closure, addressing stigma, initiation of dialogue and social change, as well as expression of solidarity, as the purpose for which disclosures were undertaken.

Sexual Abuse in the Orthodox Jewish Community: A Literature Review

Sexual abuse is a cross-cultural phenomenon related to multiple cultural contexts including religious affiliation. The Haredi, or Orthodox Jewish community (OJC), constitutes a significant minority group of the worldwide Jewish population, characterized by cultural conservatism, steadfast loyalty to the community, and strict religious behavioral codes. To date, only few empirical studies (as opposed to multiple media reports) have dealt with the issue of sexual abuse within the OJC. Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we conducted a systematic review of the literature on sexual abuse within the OJC and its subgroups that addresses experiences and reports of victims, perpetrators, the Jewish and general community, and professionals in the North America, Israel, and Australia. Articles were collected from peer-reviewed databases and bibliographies; 13 quantitative and qualitative articles were included in the final sample. Three themes emerged: disclosure of sexual abuse, perceptions and attitudes toward the abuse, and its implications. Results indicated that alongside several findings that were specifically grounded in the context of closed collective or religious societies and the OJC in particular, most essentially reflected universal aspects of sexual abuse. The results suggest promoting context-informed interventions based on community knowledge and resilience, together with appropriate training in order to better understand the needs of the OJC and of closed communities in general.

Child Sexual Abuse, Academic Functioning and Educational Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood

In many parts of the world, emerging adults, aged 18 to 25 years old, require education beyond high school to transition to a stable, secure adulthood. Child abuse, trauma, victimization, and adversity have been shown to negatively affect academic functioning and educational attainment during childhood and adolescence. Despite this, many emerging adults who have experienced these adverse events also show remarkable resilience. Understanding both maladaptation and resilience among emerging adults will inform efforts to increase academic success and post-secondary educational attainment. In the current review, we synthesize literature on associations between child sexual abuse and academic functioning and educational outcomes in emerging adults and college students, including possible social, emotional, and cognitive mediators. We find initial evidence that academic functioning and educational outcomes are separable, with more research needed on reasons for leaving college other than low grades, more research on community colleges, trade schools, on-the-job training, military training, and other sites of post-secondary learning, and as well as the antecedents and consequences of academic experiences in emerging adulthood. Overall, we have a limited understanding of the social and emotional functioning important to educational success in college and other post-secondary educational settings.

To Live, Not Only Survive-An Ongoing Endeavor: Resilience of Adult Swedish Women Abused as Children

Background: A significant proportion of individuals exposed to maltreatment in childhood adapt positively in adulthood despite the adversities, i.e., show resilience. Little is known about resources and processes related to adulthood that promote resilience. Since women are overrepresented as victims of intrafamilial violence, understanding resilience among adult women is important. Objective: To explore experiences of resilience among adult women who perceive well-being and well-functioning although being exposed to maltreatment during childhood. Participants and Setting: This study included 22 women with experiences of childhood maltreatment, mean age of 48 years, living in Sweden. Methods: Individual interviews were conducted and analyzed according to constructivist grounded theory. Results: The process of resilience was experienced as an ongoing endeavor to live, not only survive, an internal process that interacted with external processes involving social relations and conditions. This endeavor was built on four interrelated resources: establishing and maintaining command of life; employing personal resources; surrounding oneself with valuable people; and reaching acceptance. These worked together, not in a linear or chronological order, but in up and down ways, turns and straight lines (now and then), through the process from maltreatment to well-being. Conclusion: Resilience was found to rest on intrapersonal and interpersonal resources. Individual's inherent capabilities can be, depending on life circumstances and available resources, realized in a way that promote well-being and well-functioning despite severe adversities. Therefore, public health initiatives, social services, and policies should provide conditions that help women maltreated in childhood to live fully rather than merely to survive.

Conceptual Research Framework of Consumer Resilience to Privacy Violation Online

This is a conceptual paper that aims to identify relevant approaches for assessing consumer resilience with regard to online privacy violation and to develop a research model suitable for subsequent empirical testing. Based on the relevant literature, we made a synthesis of theoretical approaches to individual resilience from diverse disciplines and in the next step we proposed a set of variables in the model to serve as determinants and behavioral consequences of consumer resilience with regard to online privacy violation. Finally, we offer the developed conceptual model for further scholarly debate and for future empirical verification from the research community.

The Effect of Early Childhood Sexual Abuse on Mental Health Among Postpartum Women Visiting Public Health Facilities in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia: Multicenter Study

Background

There is a scarcity of evidence regarding the effects of early childhood sexual abuse on mental health among women in Sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this study was to assess the proportion of postpartum depression and associated factors among postnatal women in care in public health facilities of Bahir Dar city, northwest Ethiopia. This study also aimed at evaluating the effect of early childhood sexual abuse on postpartum depression.

Methods

A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted among 988 postpartum women in care at Bahir Dar city’s public health facilities. A two-stage sampling technique and interviewer administered structured questionnaire were utilized. Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) with a cutoff point of ≥ 12 was employed to report postpartum depression. Binary logistic regression model was fitted and the level of significance was reported based on AOR with 95% CI at p-value of < 0.05.

Results

The prevalence of postpartum depression was 33.8% (95% CI: 31, 37) and 55.3% (95% CI: 46, 64) among all study participants and mothers having a history of childhood sexual abuse, respectively. Participants’ age of < 25 years (AOR = 3.1; 95% CI: 1.9, 5.3) and 25–34 years (AOR= 2.0; 95% CI: 1.3, 3.2), family size of >5 (AOR = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.1, 5.7), alcohol use (AOR = 2.2; 95% CI: 1.6, 2.9), history of childhood sexual abuse (AOR = 2.8; 95% CI: 1.9, 4.3), joblessness (AOR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.1, 1.9) and growing up with biological mothers (AOR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.4, 0.8) have stastical significant association with postpartum depression as compared to the respective reference group.

Conclusion

A significantly higher burden of postpartum depression was observed among mothers with a history of childhood sexual abuse. Thus, controlling childhood sexual abuse and other psychosocial determinants would improve maternal mental wellness.

Exposure to childhood interpersonal trauma and mental health service urgency

BACKGROUND

Children and youth with a history of maltreatment experience different developmental, psychiatric and health problems. Ensuring there is streamlined access to services is imperative to recovery. Yet, few reports of standardized methods for directing and prioritizing risk for children seeking services exist.

OBJECTIVE

The current study aims to address this gap and explore how mental health personnel triage highly vulnerable cases. Specifically, the goal of the current study is to examine whether experiencing childhood interpersonal trauma predicts service urgency.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participants were 19,645 children and youth, ages 4-18 years (M = 11.1 SD = 3.4) who completed the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health Screener (ChYMH-S) at various community-based and residential children's mental health facilities across Ontario.

METHODS

Retrospective data collected from the ChYMH-S was used to explore differences in maltreatment history, gender, and legal guardianship and their impact on service prioritization.

RESULTS

Children and youth who were exposed to some form of interpersonal trauma were more likely to have mental health issues requiring urgent follow-up service compared to those who were not exposed. Findings also suggested that gender and legal guardianship impact service urgency.

CONCLUSIONS

Children and youth who have experienced maltreatment are significantly more likely to score high on mental health service urgency than those who did not. This provides valuable insight that can support the development of appropriate system-level changes to policy and practice when servicing children and youth with mental health needs in Canada.

Parenting Among Mothers Who Experienced Child Sexual Abuse: A Qualitative Systematic Review

Child sexual abuse (CSA) represents a significant public health problem. While CSA is associated with several adverse outcomes, recent attention has been given to its effect on maternal parenting. Despite a growing literature on this topic, a comprehensive systematic review has not been conducted. Thus, this review aimed to fill this gap. Several search strategies were used, including searches in academic databases. Two reviewers completed screening, full-text review, data extraction, and quality determinations. Extracted qualitative data were synthesized for the 108 studies meeting inclusion criteria. The primary themes emerging from women's accounts of the effects of CSA on their current parenting included abuse of child, breastfeeding, child-rearing practices, coping related to parenting, mother-child relationship, perceptions of child, perceptions of motherhood, and protection of children from abuse. Given the current lack of interventions designed for these mothers, the results of this review may aid in the development of evidence-based interventions.

Antecedents of women managers’ resilience: conceptual discussion and implications for HRM

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a framework with the antecedents of women managers’ resilience in SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

This developmental study uses a comprehensive literature review and a set of propositions to identify the antecedent of women managers’ resilience and develops a conceptual framework for resilience.

Findings

The results indicate that in addition to personal resilience traits, interactive engagement with the work environment, career adaptability and positive human resource management (HRM) interventions are the main antecedents of women managers’ resilience.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contributes to theory by providing a new perspective on the study of resilience as a process at the organisational level and as a trait at personal level. It contributes to the women employee-centric resilience discussion in HRM literature and explores the relationship between resilience and women managers’ career progression. This is a developmental study, and despite the strengths of the undertaken approach, there are a number of limitations due to the lack of empirical evidence. Therefore, future research activities should focus on validating the framework and determining any potential boundaries of this resilience framework.

Practical implications

The study reveals a number of practical implications leading to a recommended resilience toolkit for HR managers of organisations to develop and promote resilience in their women managers and aspiring managers.

Social implications

The social implications of this study include the social relationships within the work-setting, better employee engagement and interaction with the work environment and flexible career progression pathways.

Originality/value

The paper is based on rich conceptual and theoretical discussion that identifies the key antecedents of women managers’ resilience. The study also conceptually establishes the moderating relationship between women managers’ resilience and work stress and burnout.

Effects of Child Sexual Abuse on the Parenting of Male Survivors

Research shows that child sexual abuse (CSA) can have detrimental effects on adult functioning. While much research regarding the effects of CSA on parenting of mothers is available, there is a dearth of information on how CSA impacts fatherhood. This literature review finds that the parenting experiences of male survivors are characterized by self-perceptions as adequate parents, deficient parenting as measured by standardized instruments, conceptualization of parenting as an intergenerational legacy and potential healing experience, fear of becoming an abuser, and physical and emotional distance from their children. These themes are strongly related to social discourses on intergenerational cycle of violence theories. Fatherhood is not exclusively problematic for male survivors and can be a healing experience and a source of strength for some survivors. Based on literature concerning male survivors who are parents, narrative therapy is recommended as a therapeutic model to explore how fathers who are survivors challenge dominant discourses around legacies of family violence, intergenerational parenting deficiencies, and victimization. Restorying fatherhood as a healing opportunity is essential when working with fathers who are male survivors and their families.

Perspectives of Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse: An Exploration of the Adjustments to Self-Structure through Meaning-Making in Therapy

This critical literature review explored how adult survivors of child sexual abuse experienced adjustments to their self-structure through meaning-making in therapy. Following extensive searches of academic databases, 15 studies were identified for review. Using thematic analysis, eight themes emerged. The eight identified themes of trust, acknowledgement, evolution, acceptance, integration, congruence, relational, and agency represented distinct but interrelated components of self-structure. The findings also indicated that self-structure components may be both intra- and interrelational in nature and that movement in one theme may facilitate movement in another. While recognizing that the nature of the research captured a composite of experiences, it was found that there was a consistent movement and fluidity as to how participants arrived at an adjusted position for each of the themes. A suggested theoretical framework was developed showing the components of the self-structure impacted by meaning-making and the nature of the adjustments made. Recommendations are made regarding future research.

Resilience in psychology: A critical analysis of the concept

Historically, psychiatry and clinical psychology focused on understanding how stressful life conditions led to psychiatric disorders. With the rise of positive psychology, the focus shifted to thriving through adversity and to concepts such as resilience. However, the number of mental disorders is still increasing. Due to a neoliberal Western decontextualizing stance in psychology, the concept of resilience is at risk of reproducing power imbalances and discrimination within our society. Resilience is analysed from a critical perspective, mostly with a Marxist point of view, including Foucauldian discursive approaches, as well as a biomedical critique of the current mental health system, to illustrate the shortcomings of Western psychologies. This article illustrates how a contextualized understanding of resilience that accounts for political, historical, and socioeconomic contexts at analytical levels besides the individual may overcome this ethnocentric and neoliberal bias.

"I Am Not A Victim. I Am A Survivor": Resilience as a Journey for Female Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

This study was designed to expand our understanding of the positive aspects of coping and resilience in female survivors of child sexual abuse. Research questions focused on women's lived experiences of being survivors of child sexual abuse and how they have experienced resilience, developed healthy intimate relationships, and viewed themselves as sexual beings. Using a qualitative research lens of phenomenology, we captured the essence of survivors' experiences of resilience. Although each woman's experience was unique, similar patterns of processes and outcomes emerged as meaningful in their development of resilient and healthy sexuality and relationship functioning. However, participants emphasized resilience as a process or journey-recovery from trauma, reconceptualization of self, and development of healthy sexuality included deliberate efforts occurring over time. Implications for future research and practice using a positive lens of resilience are provided.

Protective factors promoting resilience in the relation between child sexual victimization and internalizing and externalizing symptoms

Sexual victimization has been one of the most frequently studied forms of child victimization. Its effects are common and diverse; however, not all children and youth exposed to sexual victimization eventually develop adjustment problems. A total of 1105 children and youth (590 male and 515 female) aged between 12 and 17 from northeastern Spain were assessed regarding their experiences of sexual victimization, symptoms of psychopathology, and protective factors. The results showed that all forms of sexual victimization were associated with higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems. However, the presence of a low Negative Cognition, high Social Skills and high Confidence seem to act buffering internalizing problems. Additionally, a significant interaction between Sexual Victimization and low Negative Cognition was observed (p<0.5), so that, low Negative Cognition was related to a lower risk of being in the clinical range for internalizing problems. Likewise, high scores on Empathy/Tolerance, Connectedness to School, Connectedness to Family and low Negative Cognition acted as promotive factors in relation to externalizing symptoms, in this case without any interaction effect. The strong relationship found with emotional and behavioral problems highlights the importance of continuing the research on the protective factors underlying resilience in the relationship between sexual victimization and psychopathological symptoms. The findings also support the multi-dimensional and specific nature of resilience and identify some of the protective factors that should be regarded as key intervention targets in adolescents with a history of sexual victimization.

Team Resilience as a Second-Order Emergent State: A Theoretical Model and Research Directions

Resilience has been recognized as an important phenomenon for understanding how individuals overcome difficult situations. However, it is not only individuals who face difficulties; it is not uncommon for teams to experience adversity. When they do, they must be able to overcome these challenges without performance decrements.This manuscript represents a theoretical model that might be helpful in conceptualizing this important construct. Specifically, it describes team resilience as a second-order emergent state. We also include research propositions that follow from the model.

Positive Sexual Self-Schemas of Women Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of eight women survivors of childhood sexual abuse who view themselves as having a positive sexual self-schema, including their experiences of sexual satisfaction. Through thematic analysis, we developed the following themes: The Context for Sexual Development, Sexual Exploration, Coping Strategies, and Embracing the Sexual Self as Whole. The findings highlight the importance of relational, interpersonal, and community healing. Integral to women’s healing were experiences of sexual risk that allowed them to gain a sense of agency and empowerment. The themes that emerged provide additional support for Relational Cultural Theory as well as post-traumatic growth. We discuss the implications of these results in relation to counseling practice, training, and research.

"I Couldn't Do It to a Kid Knowing What It Did to Me": The Narratives of Male Sexual Abuse Victims' Resiliency to Sexually Offending

Research has shown that child sexual abuse victims are overrepresented among sexual abuse offenders, leading to the sexually abused-sexual abuser hypothesis. However, a large proportion of child sexual abuse victims do not go on to sexually offend, and such individuals are labeled as resilient victims. Surprisingly few studies have looked at why some male victims of sexual abuse do not go on to offend. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 47 resilient men focusing on their beliefs as to why they had not gone on to sexually abuse others. Results revealed four themes for why the victims did not offend: empathy, morals, lack of sexual desire, or a combination of the previous three. In regard to the process of developing their resiliency, some participants claimed they made a conscious decision, whereas others reported the decision was an unconscious one. The various factors that were reported as contributing to the conscious or unconscious decision (becoming aware of sexual abuse, admitting the experience had happened to them, empathy, social support, and lack of sexual desire to abuse) are discussed, along with the four themes, and the implication of these results for prevention. Finally, conclusions are drawn that the victim-offender pathway is far from inevitable as most participants stated their reason for not offending was directly related to their own experience of sexual abuse victimisation.

A Single-Case Study of Resiliency After Extreme Incest in an Old Order Amish Family

This exploratory research brief presents a single case study of the resiliency of "Mary B." She grew up in an Old Order Amish family where isolation, secrecy, and patriarchy masked repeated sexual assaults by her older brothers that began at age 7. By the age of 20, Mary alleged she had been raped on more than 200 separate occasions by members of her Amish family. After years of pleading with her mother and church officials to intervene, she sought therapy outside the Amish community. This led to three of her brothers being incarcerated. Her family disowned her and she was banned from the Amish community, leaving with an 8th grade education and little more than the clothes she was wearing. In less than 2 years, Mary had moved to a new town, completed her GED, obtained a car and driving license, maintained a small home, and worked as a certified nursing assistant. She consented to tape recorded interviews and completed several quantitative diagnostic measures. Scores on the diagnostic measures placed her within the normal range on self-esteem, competency, depression, stress, social support, and life skills. Analysis of interviews revealed Mary rebounded from her past by reframing her experiences. Themes identified within the interviews supported 6 of the 7 types of resiliencies (insight, independence, initiative, relationships, humor, and morality) outlined in the therapeutic Challenge Model.

Psychological resilience in sport performers: a review of stressors and protective factors

Psychological resilience is important in sport because athletes must utilise and optimise a range of mental qualities to withstand the pressures that they experience. In this article, we discuss psychological resilience in sport performers via a review of the stressors athletes encounter and the protective factors that help them withstand these demands. It is hoped that synthesising what is known in these areas will help researchers gain a deeper profundity of resilience in sport, and also provide a rigorous and robust foundation for the development of a sport-specific measure of resilience. With these points in mind, we divided the narrative into two main sections. In the first section, we review the different types of stressors encountered by sport performers under three main categories: competitive, organisational and personal. Based on our recent research examining psychological resilience in Olympics champions, in the second section we discuss the five main families of psychological factors (viz. positive personality, motivation, confidence, focus, perceived social support) that protect the best athletes from the potential negative effect of stressors. It is anticipated that this review will help sport psychology researchers examine the interplay between stressors and protective factors, which will, in turn, focus the analytical lens on the processes underlying psychological resilience in athletes.

Recovering from childhood sexual abuse: a theoretical framework for practice and research

Research on survivors' experiences of recovering from childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has been limited and focused on those with severe mental health difficulties. This study elicited experiences of recovery from CSA in male and female survivors who have/have not utilized mental health services. The tangible end-point was to propose a theoretical model of personally meaningful recovery. This is a qualitative study, which utilized semi-structured individual interviews following the critical incident technique. Transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to identify recurrent themes. A total 22 adult survivors of CSA. Main themes identified were: The Affected Self, Factors Hindering Recovery, Factors Enhancing Recovery, The Hurdles of Recovery and the Recovering Self. The affected self included: lack of boundary awareness and self-blame, over self-reliance, over-vigilance and guilt, shame, aloneness and social stigma. The recovering self was characterized by increasing confidence, assertiveness, ability to self-care and self-acceptance, and by embracing vulnerability. These findings have potentially major implications for clinical practice, service provision, policy development and professional training in this field. The importance of disclosure in the healing process seemed paramount and can have major implications for current service protocols.

Abuse in childhood and religious/spiritual status in adulthood among internal medicine outpatients

The relationship between abuse in childhood and religiosity/spirituality status in adulthood has been previously studied, but not in a medical sample or with the current study measure. Using a cross-sectional consecutive sample of 317 internal medicine outpatients, we asked participants, "As a child, were you the victim of either physical or sexual abuse?," and assessed religiosity/spirituality status with the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-Sp-12). We found that among the cohort with abuse in childhood, seven of twelve scales as well as the overall FACIT-Sp-12 score demonstrated statistically significant differences, with abused participants consistently evidencing lower religiosity/spirituality scores.

Political violence, health, and coping among Palestinian women in the West Bank

Political violence poses a considerable threat to the health of individuals. Protective factors, however, may help people to build resilience in the face of political violence. This study examined the influence of lifetime and past 30-day experiences of political violence on the mental and physical health of adult Palestinian women from the West Bank (N = 122). Two hypotheses were examined: (a) Reports of political violence exposure would be related to reports of poorer physical and mental health and (b) several coping variables (proactive coping; self-reliance; reliance on political, family, and religious support; and political or civic engagement) would function as moderators of the effects of political violence, buffering or weakening its effects on physical and mental health outcomes. Both lifetime and past 30-day measures of political violence were positively correlated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Proactive coping, reliance on self, and political or civic engagement significantly interacted with political violence to affect health in a counterintuitive direction; those with higher scores on these more internalized and individualistic coping strategies demonstrated worse health as political violence increased. Reliance on religious support, and, in particular, support from and participation in activities of religious institutions, emerged as a significant protective factor. Results underscore the importance of looking not only at whether political violence affects health, but also at how the relationships between political violence and health might occur, including the potential protective influence of resources within people's social environments.

A Defining Aspect of Human Resilience in the Workplace: A Structural Modeling Approach

Objectives: It has been estimated that up to 90% of the US population is exposed to at least 1 traumatic event during their lifetime. Although there is growing evidence that most people are resilient, meaning that they have the ability to adapt to or rebound from adversity, between 5% and 10% of individuals exposed to traumatic events meet criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder. Therefore, identifying the elements of resilience could lead to interventions or training programs designed to enhance resilience. In this article, we test the hypothesis that the effects of stressor conditions on outcomes such as job-related variables may be mediated through the cognitive and affective registrations of those events, conceptualized as subjective stress arousal.

Methods: The subjects were 491 individuals employed in public accounting, who were sampled from a mailing list provided by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The stressors used in this study were role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload and the outcome measures were performance, turnover intentions, job satisfaction, and burnout. Stress arousal was measured using a previously developed stress arousal scale. We conducted a series of 2 EQS structural modeling analyses to assess the impact of stress arousal. The first model examined only the direct effects from the role stressors to the outcome constructs. The second model inserted stress arousal as a mediator in the relations between the role stressors and the outcomes.

Results: The results of our investigation supported the notion that subjective stress arousal provides greater explanatory clarity by mediating the effects of stressors upon job-related outcome. Including stress arousal in the model provided a much more comprehensive understanding of the relation between stressor and outcomes, and the contribution of role ambiguity and role conflict were better explained.

Conclusions: By understanding these relations, anticipatory guidance and crisis intervention programs can be designed and implemented to enhance human resilience. These data could serve to improve training programs for these “at risk” professional groups or even the population as a whole.

(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2011;5:98–105)

"If something happened, I will leave it, let it go and move on": resiliency and victimized homeless women's attitudes toward mental health counseling

In the present study, we draw on interviews conducted with 60 homeless women (N = 60) in Detroit and Chicago about their experiences of violent criminal victimization and their attitudes toward accessing various postvictimization assistance-in particular, mental health counseling. Contrary to the research literature, which tends to overemphasize pathological responses to victimization within this population, what our data reveals is the extent to which victimized homeless women exhibit signs of resiliency through both attitudes and coping behaviors. Further, their expressed attitudes demonstrate the existence of a complex set of relationships between trauma, resiliency, and the desire to access mental health services. These findings we suggest have implications for the delivery of mental health services to this group.

Voices of healing and recovery from childhood sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse continues to occur for a significant number of children, often having deleterious consequences for survivors' physical and mental health. Research has thoroughly explored various consequences as a result of child sexual abuse, but scholars and practitioners know less about the healing processes from survivors' viewpoints. Using a constructivist grounded theory design, this study examined perceptions of healing in 10 female survivors of child sexual abuse. Results conclude with a theoretical model of healing, capturing the significance of supportive relationships, internal characteristics, turning points, and sources of active healing. Important sources of active healing include therapy, informal and formal education, compassion and empathy, blame attribution to abusers, and confronting abusers. Limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.

Psychological Resilience

The purpose of this paper is to review and critique the variety of definitions, concepts, and theories of psychological resilience. To this end, the narrative is divided into three main sections. The first considers how resilience has been defined in the psychology research literature. Despite the construct being operationalized in a variety of ways, most definitions are based around two core concepts: adversity and positive adaptation. A substantial body of evidence suggests that resilience is required in response to different adversities, ranging from ongoing daily hassles to major life events, and that positive adaptation must be conceptually appropriate to the adversity examined in terms of the domains assessed and the stringency of criteria used. The second section examines the conceptualization of resilience as either a trait or a process, and explores how it is distinct from a number of related terms. Resilience is conceptualized as the interactive influence of psychological characteristics within the context of the stress process. The final section reviews the theories of resilience and critically examines one theory in particular that is commonly cited in the resilience literature. Future theories in this area should take into account the multiple demands individuals encounter, the meta-cognitive and -emotive processes that affect the resilience-stress relationship, and the conceptual distinction between resilience and coping. The review concludes with implications for policy, practice, and research including the need to carefully manage individuals’ immediate environment, and to develop the protective and promotive factors that individuals can proactively use to build resilience.

Coping with obsessive relational intrusion and stalking: the role of social support and coping strategies

This study investigated the extent to which social support mediates negative effects of stalking and obsessive relational intrusion (ORI) victimization. A survey of 1,068 respondents indicated that (a) ORI/stalking victimization is positively related to negative symptoms and trauma; (b) five different types of coping responses are positively related to negative symptoms; (c) four domains of social support reveal small but significant negative relationships with negative symptoms; and (d) females are more threatened by unwanted pursuit than male victims, and male pursuers are more threatening than female pursuers. Structural equation modeling indicates that the influence of ORI/stalking on negative symptoms is mediated by the use of coping strategies and the adequacy of social support. Discussion speculates on the functional theoretical value of coping and support processes in managing unwanted pursuit and stalking.

Predicting resilience in sexually abused adolescents

This research examined factors that predicted resilience in sexually abused adolescents. Using Bronfenbrenner's Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) ecological model, this study considered the proximal and distal factors that would contribute to adolescents' reactions to sexual victimization. This correlational study used hierarchical regression analysis (n=237) with cross-sectional data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being Wave I (NSCAW, Dowd et al., 2002). This study found that school engagement, caregiver social support, hope and expectancy, caregiver education and SES predicted resilience. In line with the PPCT model, findings suggest that placing a greater emphasis on the contextual environment could improve support for adolescent resilience. Augmenting interventions that focus on individual change with those that address environmental factors may increase the benefits to adolescents affected by sexual abuse.

Adult Coping with Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Theoretical and Empirical Review

Coping has been suggested as an important element in understanding the long-term functioning of individuals with a history of child sexual abuse (CSA). The present review synthesizes the literature on coping with CSA, first by examining theories of coping with trauma, and, second by examining how these theories have been applied to studies of coping in samples of CSA victims. Thirty-nine studies were reviewed, including eleven descriptive studies of the coping strategies employed by individuals with a history of CSA, eighteen correlational studies of the relationship between coping strategies and long-term functioning of CSA victims, and ten investigations in which coping was examined as a mediational factor in relation to long-term outcomes. These studies provide initial information regarding early sexual abuse and subsequent coping processes. However, this literature is limited by several theoretical and methodological issues, including a failure to specify the process of coping as it occurs, a disparity between theory and research, and limited applicability to clinical practice. Future directions of research are discussed and include the need to understand coping as a process, identification of coping in relation to adaptive outcomes, and considerations of more complex mediational and moderational processes in the study of coping with CSA.

Women in Substance Abuse Recovery

The National Institute of Drug Abuse has promoted drug abuse research in the past two decades focusing on women and gender differences. One hundred twenty-eight Hispanic and White women have participated in this comparative descriptive study that has examined the differences between chemically dependent (CD) women in recovery and non—chemically dependent (non-CD) women in regard to resilience and self-differentiation—demographic variables associated with resilience and self-differentiation and recovery variables associated with resilience and self-differentiation in the CD women. Findings indicate that the CD women and Hispanic women have scored significantly lower on measures of resilience and self-differentiation. Among the recovery variables, resilience and self-differentiation are significant for children support but community support is not significant. The finding that Hispanic and White women in recovery score lower on resilience and self-differentiation is important for designing treatment strategies supportive of women in recovery.