Factors Related to Resilience Abilities and Self-Care Practices in Adolescents

Abstract

Identification of resilience factors in adolescents is necessary to promote health and decrease the incidence of negative health outcomes related to risk-behaviors in this age group. The purpose of this descriptive-correlational research was twofold: (1) to investigate the inter-relationships of perceived health status, perceived self-efficacy, resilience abilities, self-care agency and self-care practices in adolescents and (2) to evaluate a revised measure, The Solem Adolescent Resilience Abilities Scale (SARAS-R). Orem's self-care theory was used as the theoretical framework for this study. The convenience sample of 100 adolescents from San Diego county in southern California were recruited through health professionals and secondary school educators. The data collection instrument, SARAS-R, was used to measure factors that influence health practices in adolescents. SARAS-R was a 46 item, sequentially integrated questionnaire derived through a matrix analysis. Descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation were used to describe the sample and the study variables. Pearson product-moment correlation, chi-square analysis, multiple regression and analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. Statistically significant relationships were found between all variables. No inverse relationships were found. Perceived health status, perceived self-efficacy and resilience abilities were found to be predictors of self-care agency. However, only perceived health status and resilience abilities were found to be the strongest predictors of self-care practices. The strongest predictors of self-care practices were the following items: I am able to depend on my own resources and I am able to ask others for help. Chronbach's alpha was .84 for the total SARAS-R. Conclusions drawn from this study indicate that SARAS-R may be a reliable instrument for use in identifying resilience factors that enable health outcomes, positive health promotion and self-care practices. Perceived health status and resilience abilities need to be encouraged since they were found to be the strongest predictors of self-care practice. Resilience is an important factor when adolescents initiate and perform behaviors on their own behalf.