Emory L. Cowen

The Enhancement of Psychological Wellness: Challenges and Opportunities

Developed the concept of psychological wellness and made the case that proportionally more resources should be directed to the pursuit of this goal. Five pathways to wellness are considered, implicating aspects of individual development and the impact of contexts, settings, and policies. The five pathways are: forming wholesome early attachments; acquiring age- and ability-appropriate competencies; engineering settings that promote adaptive outcomes; fostering empowerment; and acquiring skills needed to cope effectively with life stressors. Although these noncompeting pathways have differential salience at different ages and for different groups and life conditions, each is an essential element in any comprehensive social plan to advance wellness. Examples of effective programs are cited in all five areas, including recent comprehensive, long-term programs embodying multiple pathways to wellness.

Resilient children, psychological wellness, and primary prevention

The concept of heightened resilience or invulnerability in young profoundly stressed children is developed in terms of its implications for a psychology of wellness and for primary prevention in mental health. Relevant literature is reviewed, a skeletal model for studying resilience is outlined, and needed research directions are considered. The latter include expansion of the constructs nomological definitional net, inquiry into the antecedents and determinants of resilience, and the application of such generative information to frame preventive interventions for young, profoundly stressed children.

Caregiving and developmental factors differentiating young at-risk urban children showing resilient versus stress-affected outcomes: a replication and extension.

This study tested hypotheses from an organizational-developmental model for childhood resilience. In this model resilience reflects a childs mastery of age-salient objectives, in the face of substantial adversity, by drawing on internal and external resources that enhance processes of adaptation specific to each developmental stage. Interviews were conducted with parents of 122 7- to 9-year-old urban children exposed to multiple risk factors, 69 classified as resilient and 53 as maladjusted. Consistent with predictions generated by the model: (1) characteristics of a childs caregiving system and early development differentiated children with resilient and stress-affected adaptations; and (2) variables reflecting emotionally responsive, competent parenting were direct, proximal predictors of resilient status and mediators of other caregiver resources such as education, mental health, and relational history. Identified predictors of resilient status, including competent parenting and caregiver psychosocial resources, largely replicated findings from a prior study with sociodemographically comparable 9- to 12-year-old children.

The role of children's future expectations in self-system functioning and adjustment to life stress: A prospective study of urban at-risk children

Study I examined relationships between an interview measure of childrens future expectations and variables reflecting self-system functioning with 136 9–11-year-old urban children exposed to high psychosocial stress. As expected, future expectations related to affect regulation, self-representations, and school adjustment. Study II, done with a subsample of the original group, showed that early positive future expectations predicted enhanced socioemotional adjustment in school and a more internal locus of control 2½–3½ years later and acted as a protective factor in reducing the negative effects of high stress on self-rated competence. These findings: (a) are consistent with prior data showing positive expectations to be characteristic of resilient children; (b) suggest that early positive future expectations influence later adjustment; and (c) underscore the role children have in actively structuring their environments and, thus, influencing their development. The heuristic value of the construct of self for future studies of resilience is suggested, and implications for preventive interventions are considered.

Developmental and family milieu correlates of resilience in urban children who have experienced major life stress

Reports findings from interviews with parents of demographically-comparable groups of highly-stressed urban children with stress-resilient (SR) and stress-affected (SA) outcomes at ages 10-12. SR and SA children were compared on family milieu and child development variables assessed within a developmental framework. Compared to SAs, parents of SRs scored higher on variables reflecting parent perceptions of a nurturant caregiver-child relationship and self-views as effective caregivers, in the context of positive discipline practices, a childs positive early temperament, and support for primary caregivers. A discriminant function analysis identified seven variables that optimally differentiated the groups and correctly classified 86% of the Ss as SR or SA.

Interviews with Children Who Experienced Major Life Stress: Family and Child Attributes that Predict Resilient Outcomes

Demographically comparable groups of children exposed to major life-stress, with stress resilient (SR) and stress affected (SA) outcomes at ages 10 to 12, were interviewed to assess perceptions of their caregiving environments, peer relationships, and themselves. SR children compared with SA children reported more: (1) positive relationships with primary caregivers, (2) stable family environments, (3) inductive and consistent family discipline practices, and (4) positive expectations for their futures. SR girls viewed their mothers as more nurturing than did SA girls. Perceptions of fathers, quality of peer relationships, and global self-concept did not differentiate the groups. A discriminant function analysis identified four variables that correctly classified 74% of the subjects as SR or SA. Findings support the view that caregiver-child relationships play a key role in moderating childrens developmental outcomes under conditions of high stress.

Teacher Race, Child Race, Racial Congruence, and Teacher Ratings of Children's School Adjustment

Abstract This study examined the effects of teacher race, pupil race, and teacher–child racial congruence on teacher ratings of the school adjustment of 445 kindergarten through fifth-grade children from 70 classrooms in 24 racially mixed urban schools. Most classrooms yielded 8 child participants: 4 African American and 4 White, with 2 boys and 2 girls per group. The two race groups were closely matched by school, grade level, teacher, and socioeconomic status. Ratings were provided by 26 African American and 44 White teachers, matched by age and years of experience. African American children were judged by both African American and White teachers to have more serious school adjustment problems, fewer competencies, more stereotypically negative qualities, and poorer future educational prognoses than White children. The relation between stereotypic teacher views and other adjustment indicators was consistently higher for African American children than for White children. African American teachers, compared to White teachers, rated all children as having more competencies and fewer problems, and had more positive academic expectations for all children. No significant teacher race × student race interactions were found.

School-based prevention for children at risk : the primary mental health project

The Primary Mental Health Project Roots and Wellsprings How PMHP Operates: An X-Ray PMHPs Early Evolution Setting up and Conducting a PMHP PMHP Mini-Programmes: Extending and Refining the Basic Offerings Evaluating the Effectiveness of PMHP Disseminating the PHMP Programme Model The Social Problem-Solving Programme The Children of Divorce Intervention Programme The Study Buddy Programme The Rochester Child Resilience Programme Conclusion: Where From, Where to? Playground Equipment, Materials and Supplies Child Associate Information and PMHP Assessment Instruments.

The Rochester Child Resilience Project: Overview and summary of first year findings

This article describes the Rochester Child Resilience Project (RCRP) and summarizes findings based on its initial year of operation. Among 4th-6th-grade urban children who had experienced significant life stress, convergent sources of evidence about current adjustment identified demographically matched samples of 37 stress-affected (SA) and 40 stress-resilient (SR) children. These two groups were compared on 11 test measures designed to expand the nomological definitional net for the concept of childhood resilience. Additionally, separate in-depth individual interviews were conducted with children and primary caregivers. Both test and interview responses significantly differentiated the groups in the predicted directions. Childrens group status (SR vs. SA) was predictable on the basis of discriminant function analysis involving five test measures, blind ratings done both for the parent and child interviews, and hierarchical regression analyses reflecting major domains of the parent interview.

The children of divorce intervention program: development, implementation, and evaluation of a program for young urban children

The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of a preventive intervention for 2nd and 3rd grade urban children of divorce. The programs main goal was to prevent and/or mitigate the behavioral and emotional problems that children often experience following parental divorce. The program emphasized support elements, identification and expression of divorce-related feelings, clarification of divorce-related concepts and misconceptions, development of relevant coping skills, and positive self and family perceptions. Fifty-two children participated in the 16-session intervention in eight urban schools. Groups met once a week for 45-minute sessions during the school day. Trained co-leaders, at least one of whom was a school-based mental health professional, led groups of approximately six children each. The structured program curriculum had four primary units: (a) Feelings, families, and family changes; (b) Coping skills: Learning how to handle problems and feelings; (c) Child-parent relationships; and (d) Childrens perceptions of themselves and their families. The 52 program children were compared to 52 divorce controls and 81 comparison subjects from two-parent families on child, parent, and teacher measures. Pre differences among groups on adjustment variables were assessed using 3 (Condition) x 2 (Sex) Manovas and Anovas. Group differences at pre were generally consistent with findings from prior studies, i.e., children of divorce were less well adjusted than children from two parent families. One exception, however, was the absence of pre-program differences among groups on a child measure of classroom adjustment. Pre-post adjustment changes for participants were contrasted with those of control and comparison subjects. Manovas and Anovas, based on a 3 (Condition) x 2 (Time) x 2 (Sex) model, were used to compare differential group changes across time. The experimental group improved more than the two nonprogram groups from multiple perspectives, i.e., child, parent, teacher, and group leader ratings, and on most measures. The main exception was the child-rated classroom adjustment measure which had also failed to discriminate among groups at pre. The studys findings suggest that this type of preventive intervention can enhance childrens ability to cope with the stressful life events often associated with parental divorce. Limitations of the study and future research directions are also considered. (Abstract Adapted from Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, 1988. Copyright