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Resilience Among Urban African American Male Adolescents: A Study of the Protective Effects of Sociopolitical Control on Their Mental Health
Author(s) -
Zimmerman Marc A.,
Ramírez-Valles Jesus,
Maton Kenneth I.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1023/a:1022205008237
Subject(s) - learned helplessness , health psychology , psychological resilience , mental health , protective factor , feeling , psychology , public health , clinical psychology , self esteem , suicide prevention , poison control , developmental psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , medicine , environmental health , nursing
Resilience refers to the notion that some people succeed in the face of adversity. In a risk‐protective model of resilience, a protective factor interacts with a risk factor to mitigate the occurrence of a negative outcome. This study tested longitudinally the protective effects of sociopolitical control on the link between helplessness and mental health. The study included 172 urban, male, African American adolescents, who were interviewed twice, 6 months apart. Sociopolitical control was defined as the beliefs about one's capabilities and efficacy in social and political systems. Two mental health outcomes were examined—psychological symptoms and self‐esteem. Regression analyses to predict psychological symptoms and self‐esteem over time were conducted. High levels of sociopolitical control were found to limit the negative consequences of helplessness on mental health. The results suggest that sociopolitical control may help to protect youths from the negative consequences of feelings of helplessness. Implications for prevention strategies are discussed.