Resilient Mothers Research Articles

Resilience in Mothers having Children with Disabilities

In a developing society and community with limited rehabilitation and care services there are major challenges for mothers with disabled children and the responsibility of a child’s growth falls solely on the shoulders of the mother or caregivers. Understanding the resilience in mothers (caregivers) is becoming more important as a process in the area of disabilities, for quality development and caring of children with disabilities. The question tthat comes to mind is, what factors make some families do well in adverse conditions while others fight to keep their family life functional, when they are subjected to similar stresses? The aim of this research is to explore the role of resilience factors in mothers having children with disabilities. This study was conducted to assess the resilience of mothers who have children with disabilities. In this scientific study all 300 mothers (100 mothers with intellectual disability, 100 mothers with locomotor disability, and 100 mothers of normal children) were selected from northern India. The resilience scales were administered to assess the resilience variable; the scale has the 4-factor solution, which had 31 items: the alpha reliability coefficient was 0.95. The result of the study shows that the F-value for resilience in mothers of intellectually disabled children, children with locomotor disabilities and of normal children the F value for resilience is 198.379 which is significant at 0.001 levels of significance. This shows that there is difference within the group of mothers of intellectually disabled children, children with locomotor disabilities and normal children. Findings reveal that the level of resilience is different in mothers of intellectually disabled children, children with locomotor disablilities and normal children. The dentification of factors that promote resilience in mothers of children with intellectual disabilities is likely to advance clinical practice by providing new emphasis in clinical areas in family- centered care. Evidence supports the theory that resilience is linked to the availability and accessibility of culturally relevant resources. The results are especially important for building a group of resilient mothers who will be involved in their children’s recovery.

Resilient Mothers: The Effect of Reducing Welfare Access on Employment, Health, and Children's Long-Run Outcomes

Resilient Mothers: The Effect of Reducing Welfare Access on Employment, Health, and Children's Long-Run Outcomes

KCNQ variants and pain modulation: a missense variant in Kv7.3 contributes to pain resilience.

There is a pressing need for understanding of factors that confer resilience to pain. Gain-of-function mutations in sodium channel Nav1.7 produce hyperexcitability of dorsal root ganglion neurons underlying inherited erythromelalgia, a human genetic model of neuropathic pain. While most individuals with erythromelalgia experience excruciating pain, occasional outliers report more moderate pain. These differences in pain profiles in blood-related erythromelalgia subjects carrying the same pain-causative Nav1.7 mutation and markedly different pain experience provide a unique opportunity to investigate potential genetic factors that contribute to inter-individual variability in pain. We studied a patient with inherited erythromelalgia and a Nav1.7 mutation (c.4345T>G, p. F1449V) with severe pain as is characteristic of most inherited erythromelalgia patients, and her mother who carries the same Nav1.7 mutation with a milder pain phenotype. Detailed six-week daily pain diaries of pain episodes confirmed their distinct pain profiles. Electrophysiological studies on subject-specific induced pluripotent stem cell-derived sensory neurons from each of these patients showed that the excitability of these cells paralleled their pain phenotype. Whole-exome sequencing identified a missense variant (c.2263C>T, p. D755N) in KCNQ3 (Kv7.3) in the pain resilient mother. Voltage-clamp recordings showed that co-expression of Kv7.2-wild type (WT)/Kv7.3-D755N channels produced larger M-currents than that of Kv7.2-WT/Kv7.3-WT. The difference in excitability of the patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell-derived sensory neurons was mimicked by modulating M-current levels using the dynamic clamp and a model of the mutant Kv7.2-WT/Kv7.3-D755N channels. These results show that a ‘pain-in-a-dish’ model can be used to explicate genetic contributors to pain, and confirm that KCNQ variants can confer pain resilience via an effect on peripheral sensory neurons.

The Cycle of Abuse: Emotional Availability in Resilient and Non-Resilient Mothers with Early Life Maltreatment

Background: Early life maltreatment (ELM) has a high risk of transmission across generations, known as “the cycle of abuse.” ELM is also an important risk factor for developing mental disorders, and having a mental disorder increases the risk of child abuse. Both the abuse potential in mothers with ELM and in mothers with a history of mental disorders might be associated with a disturbed mother-child interaction. Objective: The current study examined differences in emotional availability between mothers with a history of ELM and previous or current mental disorders (non-resilient), mothers with ELM without mental disorders (resilient), and control mothers without ELM and without mental disorders. Methods: Thirty-three non-resilient mothers, 18 resilient mothers, and 37 control mothers and their 5- to 12-year-old children participated in a standardized mother-child interaction task. Videotaped interactions were rated by three independent, trained raters based on the Emotional Availability Scales (EA Scales) and compared between the groups. Results: The non-resilient mothers and their children showed reduced maternal sensitivity, structuring, non-intrusiveness, non-hostility, responsiveness, and involvement compared to the resilient mothers and their children and the control mothers and their children (p = 0.006, η_p² = 0.12). No differences on any of the EA Scales were found between resilient mothers and control mothers. Conclusions: These deficits in mother-child interaction in non-resilient mothers might contribute to mechanisms that could explain the cycle of abuse. Interestingly, resilient mothers, who did not develop a mental disorder despite having experienced ELM, did not show these deficits. Thus, prevention programs promoting resilience might be a key to break the cycle of abuse.

“My meemaw is a Cool Ass Person”: Family Members as Role Models of Resilience for Sexual and Gender Diverse People of Color

The families of people of Color and indigenous people (POCI) are often analyzed as hostile institutions for sexual and gender diverse (SGD) adults. Using 58 interviews with SGD POCI from the Strengthening Colors of Pride 2018 Interview Study, we argue that Black and Latinx SGD adults gain resilience from family role models, mostly resilient mothers and othermothers. These resilient family members model three things: 1) how to overcome adversity and trauma, 2) being providers, and 3) emotional strength. This resilient modeling facilitates the adult resilience of SGD POCI who are navigating the complexity of intersections of race, sexuality, gender, poverty, and childhood trauma.

Resilience in Black women who do not have fathers: a qualitative inquiry

This qualitative study explored the meanings that Black women who do not have fathers attach to growing up without a father. A combination of purposive and snowballing sampling was undertaken to obtain the five female participants, while data were collected through interviews. Resilience theory was used as the framework for conceptualising the study and analysing the data. Strong resilient mothers seemed to play a primary role in how the participants made meanings of growing up without a father. The participants also constructed themselves to be resilient to victimisation that they attributed to father absence. Collectively, the women portrayed themselves to be independent, content, and empowered. These findings challenge the assumption that being reared by one parent will automatically lead to detrimental outcomes.

Mother runners in the blogosphere: A discursive psychological analysis of online recreational athlete identities

ObjectivesQualitative research on physically active mothers has shown that recreational sport may allow women to resist good mother ideals that often constrain exercise. The purpose of this study was to extend this understanding in a socio-cultural context by examining how recreational athlete mother identities were constructed within one form of new media - blogging. DesignA qualitative approach grounded in discursive psychology was used to theorize athlete mother identities as subject positions constructed within particular discourses circulated within a blog. MethodCritical discourse analysis of 30 stories and 177 reader comments from the North American online running community Another Mother Runner, was conducted. Visual data analysis of 102 images accompanying stories also contextualized the textual meanings of discourses and subject positions. ResultsTwo primary discourses were identified: discourse of transformation and empowerment and a discourse of disruption and resolution. Subject positions constructed within these two intersecting discourses were role mother/advocate and resilient mother runner. ConclusionsThis study extends discursive psychology literature in sport and exercise psychology as well as media work on athlete mother identities within sport psychology into the realm of the internet and identity construction.

Constructions and experiences of motherhood in the context of an early intervention for Aboriginal mothers and their children: mother and healthcare worker perspectives.

BackgroundThe colonisation of Australia has been associated with traumatic consequences for Aboriginal health and wellbeing, including the breakdown of the traditional family unit and negative consequences for the mother/child relationship. Early-intervention programs have been developed to assist families to overcome disadvantage and strengthen mother/child attachment. However, there is no research examining Aboriginal women’s subjective experiences and constructions of motherhood in the context of such programs, and no research on the perceived impact of such programs, from the perspective of Aboriginal mothers and healthcare workers (HCWs), with previous research focusing on child outcomes.MethodResearchers conducted participant observation of an early intervention program for Aboriginal mothers and young children over a 6 month period, one-to-one interviews and a focus group with 10 mothers, and interviews with nine HCWs, in order to examine their perspectives on motherhood and the intervention program.ResultsThematic analysis identified 2 major themes under which subthemes were clustered. Constructions of motherhood: ‘The resilient mother: Coping with life trauma and social stress’ and ‘The good mother: Transformation of self through motherhood’; Perspectives on the intervention: ‘“Mothers come to life”: Transformation through therapy’; and ‘“I know I’m a good mum”: The need for connections, skills and time for self’.ConclusionsThe mothers constructed themselves as being resilient ‘good mothers’, whilst also acknowledging their own traumatic life experiences, predominantly valuing the peer support and time-out aspects of the program. HCWs positioned the mothers as ‘traumatised’, yet also strong, and expressed the view that in order to improve mother/child attachment a therapeutic transformation is required. These results suggest that early interventions for Aboriginal mothers should acknowledge and strengthen constructions of the good and resilient mother. The differing perspectives of mothers and HCWs on the role and impact of the early intervention program reinforces the need for Aboriginal mothers to be involved in the design and implementation of services aimed at assisting their families.

Resilience, Violence, and Early Pregnancy

Giving birth at a young age and being a victim of intimate partner violence are adversities that affect the life course of women. However, some young mothers overcome these adversities and cope well, showing a dynamic resilience pathway. In this qualitative exploratory study, we examined a purposive sample of 10 resilient mothers who gave birth as adolescents in a situation of intimate partner violence. Their stories were gathered from individual in-depth interviews and on-site participatory observations. Data were collected and analyzed simultaneously, according to grounded theory. Inspired by Masten and Monn’s integrated framework of resilience, the resilience pathway of the participating mothers began with the occurrence of the adversities addressed in this study, namely, early pregnancy combined with intimate partner violence. To overcome these adversities, the participants deployed several protective processes: (a) establishing their maternal identity and the creation of a bond with the child as a turning point, (b) taking an active stance to respond to victimization, and (c) acting proactively and adjusting to motherhood. Promotive processes, positive adaptation indicators, and risks to positive adaptation complete the proposed resilience pathway. The results lead to the conclusion that increased recognition of the challenges that these young mothers face and greater emphasis on the importance of their social surroundings to support these protective processes would support them in their transition to motherhood and promote their well-being and that of their children.

The Lived Experiences of Resilient Single Mothers Who Raised Successful Black Men

This transcendental phenomenological study (Moustakas, 1994) describes the lived experiences of resilient mothers who raised successful Black men in absent-father homes. The 8 themes that captured the essence of the participants' experiences are explored in detail. The author provides recommendations for counselors, public school administrators, and community organizations providing services to single mothers and their children.

Estudo sobre resiliência de mães em unidade de terapia intensiva pediátrica

A experiencia de acompanhar um familiar internado em UTI tende a ser vivenciada como uma situacao de crise. Os estudos da Psicologia Positiva tem especial interesse em investigar os potenciais de saude de cada sujeito que favorecem o enfrentamento e a adaptacao as situacoes de crise, dentre os quais e destacada a resiliencia. Embora ainda sem uma defi nicao consensual, a resiliencia tem sido reconhecida como a habilidade humana para superar crises, enfrentar ou ser fortalecido por adversidades. Dada a relevância da investigacao sobre o tema, o presente estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar a resiliencia de maes de criancas internadas em UTI e investigar a relacao com esperanca, otimismo e pessimismo, qualidade de vida e humor deprimido. Para isso, este estudo foi realizado em uma Unidade de Terapia Intensiva Pediatrica, com um total de 18 maes, que reponderam a um protocolo de pesquisa elaborado para o presente estudo. Dentre os principais resultados, foi possivel observar correlacoes signifi cativas entre os indices de resiliencia e esperanca, entre qualidade de vida e otimismo, e entre qualidade de vida e esperanca. Ao comparar os resultados das escalas nos grupos de depressao moderada/severa e minima/leve, contrariando o que se esperava, as maes mais resilientes nao demonstraram, necessariamente, menores indices de humor deprimido. De maneira geral, maiores indices de esperanca, otimismo e qualidade de vida relacionam-se negativamente com a depressao, corroborando com conclusoes de pesquisas semelhantes. Palavras-chave : resiliencia, UTI Pediatrica, Psicologia Positiva.

Resiliência e ajustamento à maternidade no pós-parto

Resilient mothers have the flexibility and the inner strength necessary to bounce back from adversity.The transition to motherhood involves a new set of task...

Considering gendered careers: the influence of resilient mothers and sisters upon white working-class young women

This article explores the identity development of a group of white working-class adolescent girls as they consider their futures after high school. Attention is paid to themes of gender and social class as well as the impact of a deindustrialised economy. Despite the fact that few of their parents graduated from college, the girls expressed a strong desire to attend college, viewing college education as an economic necessity. The girls were reconceptualising gender in new ways and, at the same time, were discussing careers, some of which step outside of typical working-class jobs because of the level of education they require. Furthermore, the girls discussed their future plans as stemming from, and informed by, life lessons they had learned from witnessing their mothers' struggles with family, employment and education.

Resilient Parenting: Overcoming Poor Parental Bonding

This study identified groups of mothers with varying patterns of adaptive functioning and bonds with their own parents. These patterns were related to mothers' parenting of their own children to understand how some mothers avoid repeating the cycle of poor parenting. Data from 210 new mothers were analyzed before hospital discharge about bonding with their caregivers during childhood and six to 12 months later about adaptive functioning, life circumstances, and parenting. Latent duster analysis identified four distinct groups of mothers with regard to parental bonds and adaptive functioning: positive-adaptive mothers (good bonding and good adaptive functioning), positive-maladaptive mothers (good bonding and poor adaptive functioning), resilient mothers (poor bonding and good adaptive functioning), and vulnerable mothers (poor bonding and poor adaptive functioning). Despite poor parental bonds, resilient mothers were coping as well as the positive-adaptive mothers and were significantly less likely to experience parenting stress related to the parenting role, unsatisfying interactions with their infants, and attributions of their children as difficult to care for. Some mothers were able to overcome poor bonds with their own caregivers to develop good adaptive functioning in adulthood and provide good parenting to their own children. KEY WORDS: infants; latent cluster analysis; parenting; resilience ********** It is widely accepted that parenting behaviors and styles are transmitted across generations (Belsky, Jaffee, Sligo, Woodward, & Silva, 2005). Child abuse and harsh discipline, for example, are frequently linked to parents' childhood experiences, and childhood abuse or harsh parenting is considered to be a risk factor for engaging in similar parenting (Dixon, Browne, & Hamilton-Giachritsis, 2005a, 2005b). Less research has examined continuity of positive parenting, but recent evidence has suggested that it, too, is transmitted from one generation to the next (Chen & Kaplan, 2001). Discontinuity of parenting styles and behavior has received less attention, but it has also been of interest in the study of abused children because a significant proportion of abused or harshly parented individuals grow up to be nonabusing parents (for example, Egeland, Jacobvitz, & Sroufe, 1988). Egeland and associates found that mothers who broke the cycle of abuse reported supportive relationships with nonparental adults during childhood and supportive relationships with their mates. Caliso and Milner (1992) also reported that having a supportive relationship with a partner predicted breaking the cycle of abuse and that parents who had been abused as children but did not abuse their own children had different parenting attitudes than those who continued the pattern of abusive parenting. Examining recollections of parenting received by mothers, some authors have found correlations with those mothers' parenting of their own children (Hammond, Landry, Swank, & Smith, 2000). In contrast, Adler and colleagues (1991) did not find such an association in a low-risk sample. They suggested that stress may mediate the relation between parental bonds and quality of parenting, so the absence of risk factors and high stress in their sample might explain their findings. Phelps and colleagues (1998) used the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985) to investigate the role of stress, comparing the parenting of mothers who reported secure parental bonds, those who reported insecure bonds, and those described as secures, who reported insecure bonds but articulated resolution of their feelings about the relationships. Under both high and low stress, the parenting of earned secure mothers did not differ from that of continuously secure mothers. The parenting of mothers who reported insecure bonds, on the other hand, was dependent on stress level. …

Mothers’ stress, resilience and early intervention

The aim of the study was to examine factors that predict maternal stress, reported by mothers whose infants were diagnosed as having developmental disabilities at the beginning of participating in an early intervention programme ‘Me and My Mommy’ and after one year. A second goal was to identify and to portray a subgroup of resilient mothers. The sample consisted of 70 mothers from intact families, whose infants were diagnosed mostly with Down’s syndrome. All mothers were receiving early intervention services. The mothers were presented questionnaires—Sense of coherence (SOC); Family adaptability and cohesion evaluation (FACES III); Coping scale of parenting stress index (PSI‐SF), at the beginning and at the end of the year. They were also interviewed at the end of the intervention regarding their satisfaction with the programme. The results showed that at the beginning of the year, the mothers’ sense of coherence had predicted the stress experience. After a year of participation in the intervention, in addition to the contributions of the initial stress and the mothers’ satisfaction with the intervention programme, the following variables: the mothers’ sense of coherence, coping style and family cohesion, assessed at the beginning of the intervention, were considered. A group of resilient mothers was identified and they revealed following intervention a higher sense of coherence, lower stress, an increased family cohesion and decreased family adaptation measures. The results have implications for the planning of effective intervention programmes.

Exploring resilience from a parent's perspective: A qualitative study of six resilient mothers of children with an intellectual disability

Abstract This article describes a study of the experiences of six resilient mothers of children with an intellectual disability from a phenomenological perspective, using a qualitative methodology. It includes a brief review of the literature on resilience, an explanation of how and why the six participants were chosen, and the type of questions they were asked. In-depth interviews with the mothers were transcribed and analysed. The ten key themes that emerged from the data are described with an overriding statement defining the phenomenon of resilience as expressed by these six women. There is also some exploration of the implications of the findings for social work practice with families of people with an intellectual disability.

Exploring resilience from a parent's perspective: A qualitative study of six resilient mothers of children with an intellectual disability

This article describes a study of the experiences of six resilient mothers of children with an intellectual disability from a phenomenological perspective, using a qualitative methodology. It includes a brief review of the literature on resilience, an explanation of how and why the six participants were chosen, and the type of questions they were asked. In-depth interviews with the mothers were transcribed and analysed. The ten key themes that emerged from the data are described with an overriding statement defining the phenomenon of resilience as expressed by these six women. There is also some exploration of the implications of the findings for social work practice with families of people with an intellectual disability.

“You Have to Be Real Strong”

SUMMARY This study explored the range of parenting goals and strategies in a sample of resilient, urban, poor, African American, single mothers. Transcripts of semi-structured interviews with 10 mothers were analyzed using a standard qualitative data analysis technique. Contrary to the negative stereotypes held about the parenting skills of poor, single mothers, these resilient mothers described a range of plan-fully implemented parenting strategies designed to respond to a variety of parenting goals, including protecting their children, instilling values, and disciplining misbehavior. Mothers used parenting strategies that were congruent with their goals, the neighborhood context, and particular child behaviors. Mothers primarily used verbal instruction to instill values, but utilized a wider range of strategies, including instruction, loss of privileges, and physical punishment to correct misbehavior and protect their children.

Predictors of Resiliency in Adolescent Mothers

The adaptation of adolescent mothers to challenges encountered by early childbearing is characterized by much diversity. The focus of the current research was to identify protective factors at the time of the initial pregnancy that predispose the young mother to resiliency. These factors were used as predictor variables in a stepwise discriminatory model to categorize 103 early childbearers as resilient or vulnerable 5 years after the birth of their first child. Six variables accounted for 46% of the variance between the resilient and vulnerable mothers. Resilient adolescents had completed more schooling at the time of the pregnancy, were relatively younger, had more support from friends and siblings, more empathic parenting attitudes, and somewhat lower verbal intelligence scores than their vulnerable counterparts. The linear discriminant function based on these six variables was then applied to an independent sample of 26 adolescent mothers. The function correctly classified 67% of the vulnerable mothers and 92% of the resilient mothers. Implications for more focused interventions with pregnant adolescents are discussed.

"Making it": the components and process of resilience among urban, African-American, single mothers.

In contrast to the bulk of research on urban single mothers that focuses on risk and negative outcomes, this qualitative study of ten resilient mothers living in risky neighborhoods uses the women's own words to conceptualize resilience as an ongoing process of balancing risk and protective factors in eight domains. The findings question current assumptions about the universality of risk and protective factors, and point to new directions for program and policy.