Social-Ecological Factors Associated With Higher Levels of Resilience in Children and Youth After Disaster: The Importance of Caregiver and Peer Support
Children and youth are among the most vulnerable to the devastating effects of disaster due to the physical, cognitive, and social factors related to their developmental life stage. Yet children and youth also have the capacity to be resilient and act as powerful catalysts for change in their own li...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4219b933771c4bf09a139ff1cac49b4c 2023-05-15T16:17:39+02:00 Social-Ecological Factors Associated With Higher Levels of Resilience in Children and Youth After Disaster: The Importance of Caregiver and Peer Support Caroline McDonald-Harker Julie L. Drolet Anika Sehgal Matthew R. G. Brown Peter H. Silverstone Pamela Brett-MacLean Vincent I. O. Agyapong 2021-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.682634 https://doaj.org/article/4219b933771c4bf09a139ff1cac49b4c EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.682634/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-2565 2296-2565 doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.682634 https://doaj.org/article/4219b933771c4bf09a139ff1cac49b4c Frontiers in Public Health, Vol 9 (2021) disaster children youth mental health resilience Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.682634 2022-12-31T13:10:15Z Children and youth are among the most vulnerable to the devastating effects of disaster due to the physical, cognitive, and social factors related to their developmental life stage. Yet children and youth also have the capacity to be resilient and act as powerful catalysts for change in their own lives and wider communities following disaster. Specific factors that contribute to resilience in children and youth, however, remain relatively unexplored. This article examines factors associated with high levels of resilience in 100 children and youth aged 5- to 18-years old who experienced the 2016 Fort McMurray, Alberta wildfire. A mixed-methods design was employed combining quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was obtained from the Children and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-28) which measured individual, caregiver, and context factors influencing resilience processes among the participants. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews to gain further insight into the disaster experiences of children and youth. Quantitative findings reveal higher than average levels of resilience among the participants compared to normative scores. Qualitative findings suggest high levels of resilience were associated with both caregiver factors (specifically physical caregiving), and individual factors (primarily peer support). We discuss how physical caregiving and peer support during and after the wildfire helped mitigate the negative effects of disaster, thus bolstering children and youth's resilience. Implications for understanding the specific social-ecological factors that facilitate and support resiliency processes and overall recovery of children and youth following disaster are also discussed. Article in Journal/Newspaper Fort McMurray Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Fort McMurray Frontiers in Public Health 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
disaster children youth mental health resilience Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
disaster children youth mental health resilience Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Caroline McDonald-Harker Julie L. Drolet Anika Sehgal Matthew R. G. Brown Peter H. Silverstone Pamela Brett-MacLean Vincent I. O. Agyapong Social-Ecological Factors Associated With Higher Levels of Resilience in Children and Youth After Disaster: The Importance of Caregiver and Peer Support |
topic_facet |
disaster children youth mental health resilience Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Children and youth are among the most vulnerable to the devastating effects of disaster due to the physical, cognitive, and social factors related to their developmental life stage. Yet children and youth also have the capacity to be resilient and act as powerful catalysts for change in their own lives and wider communities following disaster. Specific factors that contribute to resilience in children and youth, however, remain relatively unexplored. This article examines factors associated with high levels of resilience in 100 children and youth aged 5- to 18-years old who experienced the 2016 Fort McMurray, Alberta wildfire. A mixed-methods design was employed combining quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was obtained from the Children and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-28) which measured individual, caregiver, and context factors influencing resilience processes among the participants. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews to gain further insight into the disaster experiences of children and youth. Quantitative findings reveal higher than average levels of resilience among the participants compared to normative scores. Qualitative findings suggest high levels of resilience were associated with both caregiver factors (specifically physical caregiving), and individual factors (primarily peer support). We discuss how physical caregiving and peer support during and after the wildfire helped mitigate the negative effects of disaster, thus bolstering children and youth's resilience. Implications for understanding the specific social-ecological factors that facilitate and support resiliency processes and overall recovery of children and youth following disaster are also discussed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Caroline McDonald-Harker Julie L. Drolet Anika Sehgal Matthew R. G. Brown Peter H. Silverstone Pamela Brett-MacLean Vincent I. O. Agyapong |
author_facet |
Caroline McDonald-Harker Julie L. Drolet Anika Sehgal Matthew R. G. Brown Peter H. Silverstone Pamela Brett-MacLean Vincent I. O. Agyapong |
author_sort |
Caroline McDonald-Harker |
title |
Social-Ecological Factors Associated With Higher Levels of Resilience in Children and Youth After Disaster: The Importance of Caregiver and Peer Support |
title_short |
Social-Ecological Factors Associated With Higher Levels of Resilience in Children and Youth After Disaster: The Importance of Caregiver and Peer Support |
title_full |
Social-Ecological Factors Associated With Higher Levels of Resilience in Children and Youth After Disaster: The Importance of Caregiver and Peer Support |
title_fullStr |
Social-Ecological Factors Associated With Higher Levels of Resilience in Children and Youth After Disaster: The Importance of Caregiver and Peer Support |
title_full_unstemmed |
Social-Ecological Factors Associated With Higher Levels of Resilience in Children and Youth After Disaster: The Importance of Caregiver and Peer Support |
title_sort |
social-ecological factors associated with higher levels of resilience in children and youth after disaster: the importance of caregiver and peer support |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.682634 https://doaj.org/article/4219b933771c4bf09a139ff1cac49b4c |
geographic |
Fort McMurray |
geographic_facet |
Fort McMurray |
genre |
Fort McMurray |
genre_facet |
Fort McMurray |
op_source |
Frontiers in Public Health, Vol 9 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.682634/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-2565 2296-2565 doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.682634 https://doaj.org/article/4219b933771c4bf09a139ff1cac49b4c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.682634 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Public Health |
container_volume |
9 |
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1766003553723219968 |