UNDERSTANDING RESILIENCE IN VULNERABLE FAMILIES

THE MODEL OF FAMILY RESILIENCE IS AN OUTGROWTH OF THE SIGNIFICANT IDEOLOGICAL CHANGES IN EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES MANDATED BY PUBLICLAW 99-457, WHICH EMPHASIZES A FAMILY-CENTERED AND COMPETENCY-BASED APPROACH TO FAMILIES OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN. THE MODEL HYPOTHESIZES TWO DIMENSIONS RELATED TO FAMILY RESILIENCE: CAPABILITY AND VULNERABILITY, COMPOSED OF FIVE PROTECTIVE OR RISK FACTORS, RESPECTIVELY. THE GOALS OF THE PROJECT ARE: (1) TO VALIDATE THE EXISTING TAXONOMY OF FAMILY RESILIENCE BY CLOSELY EXAMINING THE INTERVIEW RESPONSES TO 25 QUESTIONNAIRES; (2) TO EVALUATE THE RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE FAMILY-CENTERED INTERVIEW AND THE FAMILY ASSESSMENT INTERVIEWER'S RATING, DEVELOPED BY THE APPLICANT ORGANIZATION; (3) TO PILOT TEST THE THEORETICAL MODEL OF FAMILY RESILIENCE BY EXPLORING DIFFERENCES IN FAMILY RESILIENCE AMONG FAMILIES THAT VARY ON THE NUMBER AND EXTENT OF PROTECTIVE AND RISK FACTORS. THIS PILOT RESEARCH PROJECT WILL PROVIDE A BASIS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT AND EXTENSIVE STUDIES OF THE MODEL USING A LARGER AND MORE DIVERSE SAMPLE IN PHASE II, IN WHICH THE LATENT VARIABLES RELATED TO FAMILY RESILIENCE WILL BE MORE PRECISELY IDENTIFIED.