Resilience in Childhood
QUICK LOOK AT THE CHAPTER AHEAD
Classic studies of deprivation include the stories of Genie, the Koluchova twins, and Lebanese orphans.
Recent studies of deprivation have focused on orphans adopted from Romania.
Resilience has been studied among children on the Isle of Wight in England and on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, and among underprivileged urban youth in American cities, especially Chicago.
Characteristics of resilience fall into three major categories: characteristics of the child, such as social skills; characteristics of the family, such as a competent, organized parent; and characteristics of the community, such as a supportive school or religious institution where the child finds competent adults interested in his or her ability to do well.
Resilience is not hardiness of individual character; it is the relationship among the child, family, and community over time.
TERMS
Chronic stress
Resilience
Resilience is of interest to nurses for two reasons. First, developmentalists believe there are sensitive periods for attaining certain milestones—for example, attachment. When circumstances interfere with development, how far off the normal developmental path can children stray before the likelihood of recovery is lost? Second, it is important to learn which factors contribute to resilience among children who are subject to chronic stress from poverty, abuse, or illness.
DEPRIVATION AND TRAUMA: HOW FAR OFF THE PATH?Researchers have learned about the effects of deprivation on development by studying children who have been subject to it and then rescued. Three classic examples from the 1970s follow.
The story of Genie, a girl in California, is well known. Genie was tied up alone in a locked room by her father between ages 2 and 13. Food was left but no one spoke to her. When rescued, she could not walk, was not toilet trained, made no sounds, and displayed no emotion. With care, her health recovered, and Genie became responsive to selected people. She never developed normal language, however, and has lasting cognitive deficits.
In Czechoslovakia, twin boys were locked away together as toddlers. Rescued at age 6—and referred to as the Koluchova twins after the researcher who studied them—they could barely talk and lagged cognitively. Unlike Genie, they displayed fear and wariness. After being placed in a home with younger children with whom they could more easily interact, they were adopted and recovered developmentally by age 14.
In Lebanon, babies were abandoned in orphanages and were left to languish in cribs. Those adopted before age 2 recovered. Those adopted at age 4 fared slightly less well. Those subjected to deprivation throughout childhood were functionally retarded by adolescence.
More recently, the adoption of Romanian orphans into stable families in the United Kingdom has allowed researchers to more carefully study patterns of adaptation. Orphans who experienced profound institutional deprivation lasting longer than the first 6 months of life exhibited the same patterns of impairment and normal functioning at ages 6 and 11, albeit to different degrees. Problems with attachment behaviors, attention, and social/peer relationships were the most commonly observed. Orphans who experienced deprivation for less than 6 months had more normal patterns of development. The 6-month cut-off surprised researchers.More recently, the adoption of Romanian orphans into stable families in the United Kingdom has allowed researchers to more carefully study patterns of adaptation. Orphans who experienced profound institutional deprivation lasting longer than the first 6 months of life exhibited the same patterns of impairment and normal functioning at ages 6 and 11, albeit to different degrees. Problems with attachment behaviors, attention, and social/peer relationships were the most commonly observed. Orphans who experienced deprivation for less than 6 months had more normal patterns of development. The 6-month cut-off surprised researchers.
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