Original ArticlesMeasuring Resilience in the Adolescent Population: A Succinct Tool for Outpatient Adolescent Health
Section snippets
Methods
Using a cross-sectional study design, participants were recruited from 2 academic adolescent medicine primary care practices in New Jersey, one located in an urban underserved area and the second in a nearby suburb. Patients ≥13 years of age could participate if able to speak and read English at the eighth-grade level and provide informed consent and assent. Parents or guardians also had to be able to speak and read English at the eighth-grade level and provide informed consent. This study was
Results
One hundred adolescents, ages 13-21 years old, consented and participated in this study (Table II). Frequencies of high-risk behaviors, history of depression, suicidality, and physical and sexual abuse are presented in Table II. Males (n = 35) had higher resilience scores on the 7Cs than females (n = 65), 3.23 ± 2.99 vs 2.85 ± 1.99, respectively. Males (n = 35) had lower adverse childhood events scores than females (n = 65), 1.29 ± 1.20 vs 1.83 ± 1.90, respectively. These differences were not
Discussion
Our results indicate that a new tool to measure resilience was developed with internal consistency and validity for the population studied.16 This study identified that high 7Cs scores (lower resilience) correlated with high HSA scores, suggesting that adolescents with lower resilience are more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviors. Our results confirm previous findings that increased adverse events experienced in childhood correlate with increased risk taking behaviors.5 One promising
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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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Present Address: Children's National Medical Center Pediatric Residency-Community Health Track, Washington, DC.