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Influences of Cumulative Risk and Protective Factors on the Adjustment of Adolescents in Military Families
Author(s) -
LucierGreer Mallory,
Arnold Amy Laura,
Mancini Jay A.,
Ford James L.,
Bryant Chalandra M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/fare.12123
Subject(s) - normative , psychology , stressor , cumulative risk , persistence (discontinuity) , context (archaeology) , developmental psychology , psychological resilience , clinical psychology , social psychology , medicine , political science , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , law , biology , engineering
The accumulation of stressors is adversely related to adolescent well‐being. Using the contextual model of family stress and the theory of community action and change, the authors explored normative and context‐specific risks factors among adolescents from military families ( N = 1,036) and the role of relationships (family, informal networks, formal systems) as protective factors. Youth who reported higher levels of cumulative risk experienced more depressive symptoms, lower academic performance, and lower persistence. When accounting for family support and presence of informal networks, depressive symptoms were lower, academic performance was higher, and persistence was higher; participation in formal systems was associated with better academic performance. The influential nature of cumulative risk was mitigated in the presence of meaningful relationships, providing support for empirically grounded leverage points to enhance positive youth development.