Resiliency in Adolescence: Cumulative Risk and Promotive Factors Explain Violence and Transportation Risk Behaviors

Abstract

Adolescent intentional and unintentional injury is commonly related to involvement in violence and transportation behaviors. While many risk and promotive factors have been identified, a cumulative assessment of such factors is less common, and this has rarely been undertaken with transportation behaviors. The study involved Australian adolescents from high schools with greater than 75% of students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, aged 13 to 14 years ( n = 826). Findings showed the presence of risk factors increased the odds of engagement in unintentional and intentional injury-risk behavior and the presence of promotive factors decreased the odds, supporting a compensatory model of resiliency. An interaction term of cumulative risk by promotive factors was a significant predictor in logistic regression analyses suggesting a protective-factor model of resiliency also applies. The research has implications for resiliency theory in the field of transportation and adds to the research on the value of compensatory and protective-factor models of resiliency.