Resilience anchors for children in an out-of-home care institution during and after COVID-19

Growing numbers of children of all ages grow up in out-of-home care institutions due to personal and socioecological risk variables that destabilized their families of origin. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted lives and development, there is particular interest in how children who grow up in out-of-home care institutions cope and develop. This paper reports the findings of a study that sought to document anchors of resilience in children who resided in a care institution run by a non-governmental, church-based welfare organization in one of the central provinces of South Africa. In line with recent developments in childcare, the organization mainly functions via smaller child and youth group homes across the province (compared to bigger children's homes in the past). In our qualitative, phenomenological study, we used the participatory, child-friendly, and less intrusive draw-and-write technique to generate data. We asked the 20 participating children of one of these group homes to make drawings that mirror their lives, and to write paragraphs in which they described their drawings. All were school-going children in care, aged from 12 to 19. There were 11 girls and 9 boys in the study, and one of these identified as "other." The grades ranged from 7 to 12 and they spoke African languages, namely Afrikaans, Sesotho, Setswana and IsiXhosa. We used inductive content analysis to process the data, and the findings indicate that, notwithstanding personal and socioecological risks during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the resilience of the participants was anchored by a number of universal personal strengths as well as socioecological resources.

Enabling structural resilience of street-involved children and youth in Kenya: reintegration outcomes and the Flourishing Community model

Introduction

Millions of children and youth live on city streets across the globe, vulnerable to substance use, abuse, material and structural neglect. Structural resilience, the re-establishment of access to structural goods within a society such as housing, education, and healthcare following some interruption, provides an orientation for research and interventional efforts with street-involved children and youth (SICY). Further, a structural resilience framework supports organizing interactions between levels and sectors of a socio-ecology.

Methods

Following the expressed interests of Kenyan SICY, and consistent with emerging policy interests at national and global levels, we assess reintegration trajectories of Kenyan SICY (n = 227) participating in a new program intervention and model. The intervention combines two coordinated, parallel programs - one focused on the rescue, rehabilitation, reintegration and resocialization of SICY, and the other focused on empowering families and communities to provide better care for children and youth who are reintegrating from life on the streets to the broader community. Data were collected and analyzed from multiple stages across SICY involvement with the intervention.

Results

We found 79% of SICY participants reintegrated with the broader community, and 50% reintegrated with families of origin and returned to school. Twenty-five percent of participants reintegrated to a boarding school, polytechnical school, or began a business. Probability of reintegrating successfully was significantly improved among participants whose families participated in the family- and community-oriented program, who were younger, with less street-exposure, expressed more personal interests, and desired to reintegrate with family.

Discussion

To our knowledge, these are the first quantitative data published of successful reintegration of SICY to the broader, non-institutionalized community in any low- or middle-income country. Future research should (1) identify factors across socio-ecological levels and sectors contributing to health and developmental outcomes of reintegrated children and youth, (2) mechanisms to support SICY for whom the interventional strategy did not work, (3) methods to prevent street-migration by children and youth, and (4) system development to coordinate follow-up and relevant investment by institutions, organizations and community leaders to continue reintegration work.

Mediating Role of Emotional Intelligence in the Relationship Between Resilience and Academic Engagement in Adolescents: Differences Between Men and Women

Introduction

Resilience and academic engagement have become some of the most important elements in the academic context, due to their relationships with school adjustment, the protective role against risky behaviors and the well-being of adolescents.

Purpose

Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the relationships established between the variables of resilience and academic engagement, the differences according to sex, as well as to determine the mediating role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between resilience and academic engagement in adolescence.

Participants and Methods

A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed. The sample consisted of 802 secondary school students, with an average age of 13.65 years (SD = 1.24) (where 50.6% were women and 49.4% men) who filled out the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC 10), the General Academic Engagement Scale for Spanish Adolescents (CAADE) and the Spanish version of the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS-S).

Results

The results showed the existence of positive relationships between resilience and factors of academic engagement. Furthermore, the mediation models showed the direct effect of emotional intelligence on this relationship. On the other hand, with respect to sex, men showed significantly higher averages in resilience and emotional intelligence, with no significant differences in the variable of academic engagement.

Conclusion

Concluding, design of emotional intelligence intervention programs in secondary is recommended as an effective measure for promoting resilience and a positive academic trajectory.

Student resilience to COVID-19-related school disruptions: The value of historic school engagement

Does historic school engagement buffer the threats of disrupted schooling - such as those associated with the widespread COVID-19-related school closures - to school engagement equally for female and male high school students? This article responds to that pressing question. To do so, it reports a study that was conducted in 2018 and 2020 with the same sample of South African students (n = 172; 66.30% female; average age in 2020: 18.13). A moderated moderation model of the 2018 and 2020 data showed that historic levels of school engagement buffered the negative effects of disrupted schooling on subsequent school engagement (R² = .43, β = -5.09, p < .05). This protective effect was significant for girl students at moderate and high levels of historic school engagement, but not at lower levels of historic school engagement. Disrupted schooling did not significantly affect school engagement for male students at any level of historic school engagement. In addition, student perceptions of teacher kindness were associated with higher school engagement and having experienced an adverse event at school with lower school engagement. The results point to the importance of facilitating school engagement and enabling school environments - also when schooling is disrupted.

The Contributing Role of Family, School, and Peer Supportive Relationships in Protecting the Mental Wellbeing of Children and Adolescents

Globally, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in children and adolescents. Previous research has demonstrated that supportive relationships are a key protective factor against poor mental health in children, particularly amongst those who have experienced adversity. However, fewer studies have examined the relative impact of different types of supportive relationships. The current study examined the association between level of family adult support, school adult support, and school peer support and mental wellbeing in a sample of children (age 8-15 years, N = 2,074) from schools in the UK. All three sources of support were independently associated with mental wellbeing. Analyses demonstrated a graded relationship between the number of sources of support and the odds of low mental wellbeing (LMWB), reflecting a cumulative protective effect. While all three sources of support were best, it was not vital, and analyses demonstrated a protective effect of school sources of support on LMWB amongst children with low family support. Peer support was found to be particularly important, with prevalence of LMWB similar amongst children who had high peer support (but low family and school adult support), and those who had high family and school adult support, (but low peer support), indicating that high peer support has an equivalent impact of two other protective factors. Findings from the study highlight the crucial context schools provide in fostering positive peer relationships and supportive teacher-student relationships to promote mental health and resilience for all children, including both those with and without supportive home environments.

Academic Resilience and Engagement in High School Students: The Mediating Role of Perceived Teacher Emotional Support

Academic resilience is the ability to overcome setbacks and chronic difficulties in the academic context. Previous studies have found that resilient students tend to be more engaged in school than their counterparts. Nevertheless, it seems worth deepening the role of contextual factors, such as teacher emotional support and how students perceive it, as it could contribute to foster the abovementioned relationship. The present study aimed to examine the links between academic resilience, perceived teacher emotional support, and school engagement. Moreover, the mediating role of perceived teacher emotional support was investigated. A sample of 205 Italian high school students (58.5% female), aged 14–19 years (M = 16.15, SD = 1.59), completed self-report questionnaires on academic resilience, perceived teacher emotional support, and school engagement. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the mediation hypothesis. The results showed that academic resilience was associated with perceived teacher emotional support, and both of them were related to school engagement. Furthermore, perceived teacher emotional support partially mediated the relationship between academic resilience and school engagement. Findings were discussed by underlining the importance of fostering personal and contextual resources in the school context to promote students’ well-being.

The influence of social achievement goals on academic engagement: a cross-sectional survey in a Namibian primary school

Achievement goal researchers have primarily focused on mastery and performance goals, while goals concerning the social reasons for wanting to achieve academically have only been minimally explored. The aim of the current study was to extend previous research, by investigating the influence of social achievement goals on different types of academic engagement. Namibian primary school students ( N = 117) answered questionnaires regarding their mastery, performance, and work avoidance achievement goals, their social achievement goals (i.e., affiliation, approval, concern, responsibility, status), and their academic engagement (i.e., behavioral, emotional, agentic). Hierarchical regression analyses, that controlled for the effects of mastery, performance, and work avoidance achievement goals, prior achievement, as well as grade-level, revealed that social achievement goals were able to account for a significant additional proportion of variance in engagement. Social status goals predicted behavioral engagement, while social concern goals predicted emotional and agentic engagement. Our findings indicate that social achievement goals are a distinct construct that can contribute to the current understanding of student motivation and academic engagement.

The feasibility of the draw-and-write technique in exploring the resilience of children orphaned by AIDS

Worldwide, researchers routinely study children indirectly through adults who act as proxies for such children. The call for researchers to rather study children directly and adopt less intrusive child-friendly methodologies has become louder. The draw-and-write technique is regarded as a less intrusive child-friendly method of collecting data that can be used for this purpose. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study that sought to establish the feasibility of the draw-and-write technique in exploring the resilience of children orphaned by AIDS. This study involved a convenience sample of 23 IsiXhosa-speaking orphaned children aged from 13 to 17. The participants were in grades 6 to 10 and they resided in two child and youth care centres in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. As part of the draw-and-write technique the participants were asked to make drawings of what enabled them to cope with their lives and to write short narratives in which they explained their drawings. Inductive content analysis was used to analyse the data and this process yielded two main themes, namely: personal protective resources and socio-ecological protective resources. The findings show that complex combinations of personal and socio-ecological resilience resources enabled the resilience of the orphaned children. The findings challenge researchers not to be oblivious to alternative child-friendly methods of research such as the draw-and-write technique when young people are the unit of analysis. The findings of this study have implications for research as well as practice in the field of education and psychology.

A case study of school support and the psychological, emotional and behavioural consequences of HIV and AIDS on adolescents

Various studies have reported a huge increase in the numbers of orphaned adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa and its effects on their psychological, emotional and behavioural development. Yet, their needs are seldom recognised or adequately addressed in policy and programmes.This article uses a qualitative study to report the experiences of 11 orphaned adolescents (5 boys and 6 girls aged between 15 and 18 years) affected by HIV and AIDS in a secondary school (in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, South Africa) and the school support provided by them. The primary data-generation strategies were informal interviews and the Beck Youth Inventories-II (BYI-II) (adopted to measure the participants' level of emotional, behavioural and psychological problems). All interview transcriptions with the participants were thematically analysed. BYI-II data were subjected to T scores (in percentages) to know the participant's psychological, behavioural and emotional problems in order to compare it with their perceptions on the degree of support provided by the school. Result shows that participants have a high prevalence of psychological, behavioural and emotional problems and that the school support provided to them (teachers' support, the general school environment and the degree of discrimination, labelling and bullying that exists in the school) was not sufficient. The participants, however, reported a high level of support from the principal. In conclusion, we have suggested the urgent need for teachers to acquire and possess basic knowledge and skills in caring and paying attention to learners affected by HIV and AIDS and for government agencies and NGOs working with HIV-and AIDS-affected children, to focus on proposals that address the psychological, behavioural and emotional problems in such affected adolescents.

Interventions for promoting reintegration and reducing harmful behaviour and lifestyles in street-connected children and young people

BACKGROUND

Millions of street-connected children and young people worldwide live or work in street environments. They are vulnerable to many risks, whether or not they remain connected to families of origin, and despite many strengths and resiliencies, they are excluded from mainstream social structures and opportunities.

OBJECTIVES

Primary research objectivesTo evaluate and summarise the effectiveness of interventions for street-connected children and young people that aim to:• promote inclusion and reintegration;• increase literacy and numeracy;• facilitate access to education and employment;• promote mental health, including self esteem;• reduce harms associated with early sexual activity and substance misuse. Secondary research objectives• To explore whether effects of interventions differ within and between populations, and whether an equity gradient influences these effects, by extrapolating from all findings relevance for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Peters 2004).• To describe other health, educational, psychosocial and behavioural effects, when appropriate outcomes are reported.• To explore the influence of context in design, delivery and outcomes of interventions.• To explore the relationship between numbers of components and duration and effects of interventions.• To highlight implications of these findings for further research and research methods to improve evidence in relation to the primary research objective.• To consider adverse or unintended outcomes.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the following bibliographic databases, searched for the original review, from inception to 2012, and various relevant non-governmental and organisational websites: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); MEDLINE and Pre-MEDLINE; EMBASE and EMBASE Classic; Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL); PsycINFO; Education Resource Information Center (ERIC); Sociological Abstracts; Social Services Abstracts; Social Work Abstracts; Healthstar; Latin American Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS); System for Grey literature in Europe (OpenGrey); ProQuest Dissertations and Theses; EconLit; IDEAS Economics and Finance Research; JOLIS Library Catalog of the holdings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Libraries; British Library for Development Studies (BLDS); Google and Google Scholar. We updated the search in April 2015 for the review update, using the same methods.

SELECTION CRITERIA

This review includes data from harm reduction or reintegration intervention studies that used a comparison group study design; all were randomised or quasi-randomised studies. Studies were included if they evaluated interventions provided for street-connected children and young people, from birth to 24 years, in all contexts.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed risk of bias and other factors presented in the Discussion and Summary quality assessment (Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE)). We extracted data on intervention delivery, context, process factors, equity and outcomes, and grouped outcomes into psychosocial outcomes, risky sexual behaviours or substance use. We conducted meta-analyses for outcomes where the outcome measures were sufficiently similar. We evaluated other outcomes narratively.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 13 studies evaluating 19 interventions from high-income countries (HICs). We found no sufficiently robust evaluations conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Study quality overall was low and measurements used by studies variable. Participants were classified as drop-in and shelter-based. No studies measured the primary outcome of reintegration and none reported on adverse effects.We found no consistent results on a range of relevant outcomes within domains of psychosocial health, substance misuse and sexually risky behaviours . Interventions evaluated consisted of time-limited therapeutically based programmes that proved no more effective than standard shelter or drop-in services and other control interventions used for most outcomes in most studies. Favourable changes from baseline were reported for outcomes for most participants following therapy interventions and standard services. We noted considerable heterogeneity between studies and inconsistent reporting of equity data. No studies measured the primary outcome of reintegration or reported on adverse effects.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Analysis revealed no consistently significant benefit for focused therapeutic interventions compared with standard services such as drop-in centres, case management and other comparable interventions for street-connected children and young people. Commonly available services, however, were not rigorously evaluated. Robust evaluation of interventions, including comparison with no intervention, would establish a more reliable evidence base to inform service implementation. More robust research is needed in LMICs to examine interventions for street-connected children and young people with different backgrounds and service needs.