Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-px5tt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-16T10:58:03.589Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Resilience in maltreated children: Processes leading to adaptive outcome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2009

Dante Cicchetti ,
Fred A. Rogosch ,
Michael Lynch  and
Kathleen D. Holt
Dante Cicchetti*
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
Fred A. Rogosch
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
Michael Lynch
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
Kathleen D. Holt
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Dante Cicchetti, Department of Psychology, Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester, 187 Edinburgh Street, Rochester, NY 14608.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Evidence for resilience, competent functioning despite severe adversity, was investigated in school-age, disadvantaged maltreated (N = 127) and nonmaltreated (N = 79) children attending a summer camp program. Multiple areas of adaptation (social adjustment, risk for school difficulty, psychopathology) were assessed from self, peer, and camp counselor perspectives and school records. A composite index of adaptive functioning was developed, and levels of competence were delineated. Personality dimensions and personal resources, including cognitive maturity, self-esteem, ego-resiliency, and ego-control, were evaluated as mechanisms promoting individual differences in successful adaptation. Maltreated children as a group evidenced lower overall competence when compared to nonmaltreated children. An equal proportion of maltreated and nonmaltreated children, however, demonstrated high levels of competence, whereas more maltreated children than nonmaltreated children evidenced low levels of competence. Ego-resiliency, ego-control, and self-esteem were each found to predict individual differences in competent functioning. Evidence for the differential role of ego-control in promoting competence for maltreated versus nonmaltreated children was found. The results are discussed in terms of mechanisms contributing to resilient outcomes in maltreated children and the implications of the study of resilience for the field of developmental psychopathology.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , Fall 1993 , pp. 629 - 647
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Aber, J. L., & Allen, J. P. (1987). The effects of maltreatment on young children's socio-emotional development: An attachment theory perspective. Developmental Psychology, 23 406–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aber, J. L., Allen, J. P., Carlson, V., & Cicchetti, D. (1989). The effects of maltreatment on development during early childhood: Recent studies and their theoretical, clinical, and policy implications. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 579–619). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Achenbach, T. (1991a). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and 1991 Profile. Burlington: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T. (1991b). Manual for the Teacher's Report Form and 1991 Profile. Burlington: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.Google Scholar
Barnett, D., Ganiban, J., & Cicchetti, D. (1991, 04). Temperament and behavior of youngsters with disorganized attachments: A longitudinal study. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, WA.Google Scholar
Barnett, D., Manly, J. T., & Cicchetti, D. (1993). Defining child maltreatment: The interface between policy and research. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Child abuse, child development, and social policy (pp. 7–73). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Block, J. (1993a, 03). Ego-resilience through time. Paper presented at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Block, J. (1993b). Studying personality the long way. In Funder, D., Parke, R., Tomlinson-Keasey, C., & Widaman, K. (Eds.), Studying lives through time: Personality and development (pp. 3–41). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Block, J. H., & Block, J. (1969). The California Child Q-Set. Berkeley: University of California, Institute of Human Development.Google Scholar
Block, J. H., & Block, J. (1980). The role of ego-control and ego-resiliency in the organization of behavior. In Collins, W. A. (Ed.), Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology: Vol. 13. Development of cognition, affect, and social relations (pp. 39–101). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (1989). How research oh child maltreatment has informed the study of child development: Perspectives from developmental psychopathol-ogy. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Research and theory on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 377–431). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (1991). Fractures in the crystal: Developmental psychopathology and the emergence of the self. Developmental Review, 11 271–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (in press). Developmental psychopathology: Reactions, reflections, projections. Developmental Review.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Aber, J. L. (1986). Early precursors to later depression: An organizational perspective. In Lipsitt, L. & Rovee-Collier, C. (Eds.), Advances in infancy research Vol. 4 (pp. 87–137). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Barnett, D. (1991). Attachment organization in preschool aged maltreated children. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 397–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Carlson, V. (Eds.). (1989). Child maltreatment: Research and theory on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Lynch, M. (1993). Toward an ecological/transactional model of community violence and child maltreatment: Consequences for children's development. Psychiatry, 53, 96–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Lynch, M., Shonk, S., & Manly, J. T. (1992). An organizational perspective on peer relations in maltreated children. In Parke, R. D. & Ladd, G. W. (Eds.), Family-peer relationships: Modes of linkage (pp. 345–383). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Manly, J. T. (1990). A personal perspective on conducting research with maltreating families: Problems and solutions. In Brody, G. H. & Sigel, I. E. (Eds.), Methods of family research: Biographies of research projects: Vol. 2. Clinical populations (pp. 87–133). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Rizley, R. (1981). Developmental perspectives on the etiology, intergenerational transmission, and sequelae of child maltreatment. New Directions for Child Development, 11, 31–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Schneider-Rosen, K. (1986). An organizational approach to childhood depression. In Rutter, M., Izard, C., & Read, P. (Eds.), Depression in young people, clinical and developmental perspectives (pp. 71–134). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (1991). The making of a developmental psychopathologist. In Cantor, J., Spiker, C., & Lipsitt, L. (Eds.), Child behavior and development: Training for diversity (pp. 34–72). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Toth, S., & Bush, M. (1988). Developmental psychopathology and incompetence in childhood: Suggestions for intervention. In Lahey, B. & Kazdin, A. (Eds.), Advances in clinical child psychology (Vol. 11, pp. 1–71). New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1983). Continuities and changes in children's social status: A five-year longitudinal study. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 29, 261–282.Google Scholar
Cole, P., & Putnam, F. (1992). Effect of incest on self and social functioning: A developmental psychopathological perspective. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 174–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coopersmith, S. (1981). The Self Esteem Inventories. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
Crittenden, P. M. (1988). Relationships at risk. In Belsky, J. & Nezworski, T. (Eds.), Clinical implications of attachment (pp. 137–174). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Crittenden, P. M., & DiLalla, D. L. (1988). Compulsive compliance: The development of an inhibitory coping strategy in infancy. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16, 585–599.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cummings, E. M., & Cicchetti, D. (1990). Toward a transactional model of relations between attachment and depression. In Greenberg, M. T., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, E. M. (Eds.), Attachment during the preschool years (pp. 339–372). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Cummings, E. M., Hennessy, K., Rabideau, G., & Cicchetti, D. (in press). Responses of physically abused boys to interadult anger involving their mothers. Development and Psychopathology, 6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downey, G., & Coyne, J. C. (1990). Children of depressed parents: An integrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 50–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, L. M. (1981). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Revised Manual. Circle Pines, MM: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
Eckenrode, J., Laird, M., & Doris, J. (1993). School performance and disciplinary problems among abused and neglected children. Developmental Psychology, 29, 53–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egeland, B., & Farber, E. (1987). Invulnerability among abused and neglected children. In Anthony, E. J. & Cohler, B. (Eds.), The invulnerable child (pp. 253–288). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Erickson, M. F., Egeland, B., &Pianta, R. (1989). The effects of maltreatment on the development of young children. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 647–684). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaensbauer, T. J. (1980). Anaclitic depression in a three-and-one-half-month-old child. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 841–842.Google Scholar
Garmezy, N. (1971). Vulnerability research and the issue of primary prevention. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 41, 101–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garmezy, N. (1985). Stress-resistant children: The search for protective factors. In Stevenson, J. (Ed.), Recent research in developmentalpsychopathology (pp. 213–233). Oxford: Pergamon Press (a book supplement to the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Number 4).Google Scholar
Garmezy, N. (1987). Stress, competence, and development: Continuities in the study of schizophrenic adults, children vulnerable to psychopathology, and the search for stress-resistant children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57, 159–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garmezy, N. (1991). Resilience in children's adaptation to negative life events and stressed environments. Pediatrics, 20, 459–466.Google ScholarPubMed
Garmezy, N., & Masten, A. (in press). Chronic adversities. In Rutter, M., Hersov, L., & Taylor, E. (Eds.), Child and adolescent psychiatry (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Garmezy, N., Masten, A., & Tellegen, A. (1984). The study of stress and competence in children: A building block for developmental psychopathology. Child Development, 55, 97–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garmezy, N., & Nuechterlein, K. (1972). Invulnerable children: The fact and fiction of competence and disadvantage. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 42, 328–329.Google Scholar
Garmezy, N., & Streitman, S. (1974). Children at risk: The search for antecedents to schizophrenia: Part I. Conceptual models and research methods. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 8, 14–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harter, S. (1983). Developmental perspectives on the self-system. In Mussen, P. H. (Series Ed.) & Hetherington, E. M. (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development (4th ed., pp. 275–385). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Harter, S., & Marold, D. B. (in press). The directionality of the link between self-esteem and affect: Beyond causal modeling. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology: Vol. 5. Disorders and dysfunctions of the self. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.Google Scholar
Kaufman, J. (1991). Depressive disorders in maltreated children. American Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 257–265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kazdin, A. E., Moser, J., Colbus, D., & Bell, R. (1985). Depressive symptoms among physically abused and psychiatrically disturbed children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94, 298–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kohlberg, L., LaCrosse, J., & Ricks, D. (1972). The predictability of adult mental health from child behavior. In Wolman, B. (Ed.), Manual of child psychopathology (pp. 1217–1284). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Kolvin, I., Miller, F., Fleeting, M., & Kolvin, P. (1988). Risk and protective factors for offending with particular reference to deprivation. In Rutter, M. (Ed.), Studies of psychosocial risk: The power of longitudinal data (pp. 77–95). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kovacs, M. (1982). The Children's Depression Inventory: A self-rated depression scale for school-aged youngsters. Unpublished manuscript, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Lewin, K. (1946). Behavior and development as a function of the total situation. In Carmichael, L. (Ed.), Manual of child psychology (pp. 918–970). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Lynch, M., & Cicchetti, D. (1992). Maltreated children's reports of relatedness to their teachers. New Directions for Child Development, 57, 81–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luthar, S. (1991). Vulnerability and resilience: A study of high-risk adolescents. Child Development, 62, 600–616.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masten, A. S. (1989). Resilience in development: Implications of the study of successful adaptation for developmental psychopathology. In Cicchetti, D. (Ed.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology: Vol. 1. The emergence of a discipline (pp. 261–294). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Masten, A. S., Garmezy, N., Tellegen, A., Pellegrini, D., Larkin, K., & Larsen, A. (1988). Competence and stress in school children: The moderating effects of individual and family qualities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29, 745–764.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mueller, N., & Silverman, N. (1989). Peer relations in maltreated children. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 529–578). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newcomb, A. F., Bukowski, W. M., & Pattee, L. (1993). Children's peer relations: A meta-analytic view of popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, and average sociometric status. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 99–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1987). Peer relations and later social adjustment: Are low-accepted children at risk? Psychological Bulletin, 102, 357–389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pekarik, E., Prinz, R., Liebert, D., Weintraub, S., & Neale, J. (1976). The Pupil Evaluation Inventory: A sociometric technique for assessing children's social behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 4, 83–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richters, J., & Weintraub, S. (1990). Beyond diathesis: Toward an understanding of high risk environments. In Rolf, J., Masten, A. S., Cicchetti, D., Nuechterlein, K. H., & Weintraub, S. (Eds.), Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology (pp. 67–96). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogosch, F. A., Cicchetti, D., Shields, A., &Toth, S. L. (in press). Parenting dysfunction in child maltreatment. In Bornstein, M. (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (Vol. IV). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1979). Protective factors in children's responses to stress and disadvantage. In Kent, M. W. & Rolf, J. E. (Eds.), Primary prevention of psychopathology: Vol. 3. Social competence in children (pp. 49–74). Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1985). Resilience in the face of adversity: Protective factors and resistance to psychiatric disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 598–611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (1987). Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57, 316–331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sameroff, A. J., & Chandler, M. J. (1975). Reproductive risk and the continuum of caretaking casualty. In Horowitz, F. D., Hetherington, E. M., Scarr-Salapatek, S., & Siegal, G. (Eds.), Review of child development research (Vol. 4, pp. 187–244). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sameroff, A. J., Seifer, R., Barocas, R., Zax, M., & Greenspan, S. (1987). Intelligence quotient scores of 4-year-old children: Social environmental risk factors. Pediatrics, 79, 343–350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saylor, C., Spirito, A., Finch, A., & Bennett, B. (1984). The Children's Depression Inventory: A systematic evaluation of psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 955–967.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schneider-Rosen, K., & Cicchetti, D. (1991). Early self knowledge and emotional development: Visual self-recognition and affective reactions to mirror self-image in maltreated and nonmal-treated toddlers. Developmental Psychology, 27, 481–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seifer, R., Sameroff, A., Baldwin, C., & Baldwin, A. (1992). Child and family factors that ameliorate risk between 4, and 13, years of age. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 893–903.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skuse, D. (1984). Extreme deprivation in early childhood – II. Theoretical issues and a comparative review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 31, 893–903.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A., & Rutter, M. (1984). The domain of developmental psychopathology. Child Development, 55, 17–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Starr, R., & Wolfe, D. (Eds.). (1991). The effects of child abuse and neglect: Issues and research. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Sternberg, K. J., Lamb, M. E., Greenbaum, C., Cicchetti, D., Dawud, S., Cortes, R., & Krispin, O. (1993). Effects of domestic violence on children's behavior problems and depression. Developmental Psychology, 29, 44–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toth, S. L., & Cicchetti, D. (1993). Child maltreatment: Where do we go from here in the treatment of victims? In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Child abuse, child development, and social policy (pp. 399–437). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Toth, S. L., Manly, J. T., & Cicchetti, D. (1992). Child maltreatment and vulnerability to depression. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 97–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trickett, P. K., Aber, J. L., Carlson, V., & Cicchetti, D. (1991). The relationship of socioeconomic status to the etiology and developmental sequelae of physical child abuse. Developmental Psychology, 27, 148–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waddington, C. H. (1957). The strategy of genes. London: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. S. (1982). Vulnerable but invincible: A longitudinal study of resilient children and youth. New York: Adams-Bannister-Cox.Google Scholar
Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. S. (1992). Overcoming the odds: High risk children from birth to adulthood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, J. (1983). The structure and perception of behavioral consistency. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.Google Scholar