Psychology Commons^™

Supportive Relationships As Protective For Children Exposed To Violence: Exploring Underlying Mechanisms, Jessica Houston

Dissertations (1934 -)

The present study examined supportive relationships with parents, teachers, peers, and neighbors as protective for youths exposed to violence. To explore how support promotes resilience, four potential mediators were examined: secure attachment, adaptive coping, processing traumatic experiences with a supportive person (parent, teacher, friend, or community adult), and an optimistic outlook on life. An at-risk sample of 107 students (71% male) aged 8-19 years (M=15) who were predominantly African American completed measures of violence exposure, social support, attachment security, coping ability, trauma-processing, and optimism. Resilience was assessed with multiple measures that included self-esteem, competence in several domains (social, scholastic, athletic, …