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Social Support, Mastery, Self-Esteem and Individual Adjustment among At-Risk Youth

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Abstract

The study explored the relationship between internal resources (self-esteem, sense of mastery), external resources (social support) and the adjustment of 112 adolescents living in a typical Israeli residential treatment center. All had been exposed to abuse and neglect in their familial homes. Although none of the resources was related significantly to all of the adjustment measures, various resources were related to individual adjustment measures in different ways. Peer support did not relate significantly to any of the adjustment measures. Self-esteem was related to the academic adjustment of adolescents, and a sense of mastery was related to social and personal adjustment. As for external resources, family support was related to both academic and personal adjustment. In the regression analysis the contribution of family support to academic adjustment was indirect and only in interaction with the distance between the residential treatment center and the family’s home.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel

    Racheli Lipschitz-Elhawi & Haya Itzhaky

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  1. Racheli Lipschitz-Elhawi
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  2. Haya Itzhaky
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Correspondence to Racheli Lipschitz-Elhawi.

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Lipschitz-Elhawi, R., Itzhaky, H. Social Support, Mastery, Self-Esteem and Individual Adjustment among At-Risk Youth. Child Youth Care Forum 34, 329–346 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-005-5906-5

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