1. MHC Network Meeting (December 2018)
Risk and Resilience
MHC Network Meeting (December 2018)

2. What do you understand by the concepts:
RISK?
PROTECTIVE FACTORS?
RESILIENCE?

3. Risk: any factor or combination of factors that increases the chance of an undesirable outcome affecting a person.
Protective factors: the circumstances that moderate the effects of risk.
Resilience: positive adaptation in the face of severe adversities.
Resilience is the ability to ‘bounce back’

4. What are some of the ‘risk factors’ for pupils in your schools?

5. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)

6. Patterns in risk… Risk factors are cumulative
1 risk factor  probability of mental health problem c. 1–2%
3 risk factors  probability c. 8%
> 4 factors  probability c. 20%

8. Protective Factors Close Interpersonal Relationships Low sensitivity
Overcoming adversity in the past
Intelligence
High self esteem
Seeking novelty
School enjoyment
Interest / hobbies
Focusing on the positives
Internal, stable & global attributions
Good social skills
Valued social role
Support from friends, family, community

9. Resilience
“The flexibility that allows certain children and young people who appear to be at risk to bounce back from adversity, to cope with and manage their difficulties and disadvantages in life, and even to thrive in the face of what appears to be over-whelming odds” (Dent & Cameron, 2003)

10. Individual factors associated with resilience
School-Age
Adolescents
Female
Sense of competence and self-efficacy
Internal locus of control
Empathy with others
Problem-solving skills
Communication skills
Sociable
Independent
Reflective, not impulsive
Ability to concentrate on schoolwork
Autonomy (girls)
Emotional expressiveness (boys)
Sense of humour
Hobbies
Willingness and capacity to plan
Male
Responsibility
Social maturity
Positive self-concept
Achievement orientation
Gentleness, nurturance
Social perceptiveness
Preference for structure
A set of values
Intelligence
(Daniel and Wassell, 2002)

11. Family factors associated with resilience
School-age children
Adolescents
Close bond with at least one person
Nurturance and trust
Lack of separations
Lack of parental mental health or addiction problems
Required helpfulness
Encouragement for autonomy (girls)
Encouragement for expression of feelings (boys)
Close grandparents
Sibling attachment
Four or fewer children
Sufficient financial and material resources
A close bond with at least one person
Encouragement of autonomy (girls)
Encouragement of expression of feelings (boys)
Family harmony
(Daniel and Wassell, 2002)

12. Community factors associated with resilience
School-age children
Adolescents
Neighbour and other non-kin support
Peer contact
Good school experiences
Positive adult role models
(Daniel and Wassell, 2002)

13. Resilience is best viewed as a process rather than an outcome

14. Activity
On a piece of paper, write a timeline for the last month or year, highlighting ups and downs. Looking at the downs (and thinking about your personal qualities and the wider environment):
What helped you to cope during these times?
What personal strengths did you draw on to get through this situation?
How would you feel if you were confronted with the same situation again now?

15. Building Resilience : 3 strands
Building a sense of mastery and self efficacy
Offering supportive relationships and support to develop social skills and social problem solving
Develop the self awareness and capacity to regulate emotion

16. Approaches to Intervention
Risk-focused
Process-focused
Asset-focused
Yates and Masten, 2004

17. Interventions Neumann (2004) states that resilience can be built by:
Strong social support networks
Committed mentor from outside of the family
Positive school experiences
A sense of mastery and belief in the value of one’s efforts
Participation in extra-curricular activities
Re-framing adversities to highlight the positives as well as the negatives
The opportunities to make a difference by helping others
Be exposed to challenging situations which will help to develop coping skills (reasonable levels of risk) and self-esteem
Part time work: encourage motivation, confidence and competence
Make contact with others who could provide opportunities for work
Teach coping strategies
Modify features of the environment that are causing difficulties

18. Growth Mindsets

21. Resilience Rucksack
Can be used with individual pupils to make a personalised ‘Resilience Rucksack’;
Can be used as part of a classroom-wide or whole-school approach and presented on display boards.
ACTIVITY

22. Video to show pupils

23. Ann S.Masten
“What began as a quest to understand the extraordinary has revealed the power of the ordinary. Resilience does not come from rare and special qualities, but from the everyday magic of ordinary, normative human resources in the minds, brains, and bodies of children, in their families and relationships, and in their communities”.

24. What about our own resilience?

25. How our environment shapes resilience

26. The concept of resilience is essentially giving us the message that, given the right soil, children will grow as naturally as plants do.

27. Useful websites for Resilience