(see Chen et al., in press for additional discussion) These factors may lead these individuals to engage in unhealthful behavior (e.g., overeating of comfort foods) and to disengage from healthful behaviors (e.g., adequate sleep, exercise). Psychologically, two hypothesized mechanisms include prolonged high levels of striving – particularly a form of high-intensity coping known as John Henryism (James, 1994) – and competition between the demands of the environments these individuals seek to enter and their environments of origin (see Chen et al., in press for additional discussion). Researchers at CFR and others around the country are actively investigating factors that may underlie the skin-deep resilience phenomenon. In sum, the skin-deep resilience pattern suggests that, for low-income youth, the ability to maintain high self-control and to persist with efforts to succeed may act as a “double-edged sword,” facilitating academic success and adjustment while undermining physical health. This pattern has been most frequently demonstrated among individuals of color living in low-SES environments (Gaydosh et al., 2018 Brody et al., 2013 Miller, Cohen, Janicki-Deverts, Brody, & Chen, 2016a Chen et al., 2019), (Chen et al., in press Miller et al., 2020). The same skin-deep resilience pattern has been found in other samples of African American youth and young adults health outcomes receiving attention include cellular aging, diabetes risk, metabolic syndrome, and respiratory infection, (Brody, Yu, Miller, & Chen, 2016 Duggan, Jennings, & Matthews, 2019 Gaydosh, Schorpp, Chen, Miller, & Harris, 2018 Miller, Cohen, Janicki-Deverts, Brody, & Chen, 2016 Miller, Yu, Chen, & Brody, 2015). A 2015 study with the same sample provided additional support for this skin-deep phenomenon, observing that African American youth from more disadvantaged neighborhoods who attended college engaged in lower levels of substance use (again, indicative of resilience) but displayed higher levels of allostatic load compared with those from less disadvantaged neighborhoods who attended college, or with those who did not attend college at all. However, results further indicated that these outwardly resilient youth also reported higher levels of allostatic load, a biological marker of wear-and-tear on multiple bodily systems. In a sample of nearly 500 rural African American youth, the authors observed that, among those from higher risk SES environments, individuals who in preadolescence evinced high self-control displayed better mental health and fewer externalizing behaviors at age 19 – classic resilience. The catalyst for this body of research is a 2013 study by Brody and colleagues. Hence, their resilience may indeed be only “skin deep.” Empirical Findings CFR scientists call this pattern skin-deep resilience because it suggests that, in readily observable domains (going to college, earning good incomes, having positive mental health), certain youth appear to be doing well, yet, in the less visible domain of physiological health, these seemingly resilient individuals may be struggling.
As summarized in this research brief, results of this body of research suggest that beating the odds and achieving upward social mobility may be associated with a tradeoff in which economic success and good mental health come at the expense of physical health. Specifically, a growing consensus is emerging regarding a hidden cost to resilience, particularly as it relates to physical health. However, data emerging from the Center for Family Research (CFR) and other research centers around the country have begun to challenge this assumption. Is there a physical health cost to overcoming adversity? That is, if a child growing up under adversity manages to thrive in terms of academics, mental health, or substance misuse, then this individual has avoided the consequences of adversity in other areas of life as well. Moreover, most resilience research to date has tacitly assumed that resilience is rather uniform across developmental domains. This framing is understandable, as most resilience research provides the type of findings and stories the public loves to hear, about individuals who “beat the odds,” climbed the ladder of social mobility, or achieved success despite significant adversity or hardship. The general tone of most of this research has been optimistic. Resilience among children and adults remains a key area of study for scholars in human development (Masten, 2018 JFTR Luther, 2006 CD Rutter, 2012 D&P).
The skin deep pdf#
Download PDF version Skin-deep Resilience Research Digest
0 kommentar(er)
