Abstract
Objective
To characterize self-perception of resilience in children and adolescents, and to analyze how this self-perception differs from the perception of their parents in correlation with sociodemographic variables.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional study conducted as part of the MAISaúdeMental (More Mental Health) project with a nonprobability convenience sample including 567 children and adolescents, 50.6% of whom were females aged between 9 and 17 years old (mean = 12.40; SD = 1.59 years old) enrolled in basic education schools from Central Portugal, and 592 parents (mean age = 40.43 years old; SD = 2.58 years old). A questionnaire for sociodemographic characterization was used, along with the Healthy Kids Resilience Assessment Module (version 6.0) Internal Assets subscale, adapted to the Portuguese population by Martins (2005), composed of 18 items and 6 dimensions.
Results
Out of the total number of children/adolescents, 78.8% lived with their parents. Out of the total number of parents, most were between the ages of 40 and 41 years old. Resilience was classified as moderate by 47.8% of children/adolescents at an identical distribution in parents. The t-test showed children’s self-perception of resilience to be more positive when compared to their parents with significant differences seen in all dimensions (p <0.000). Younger parents showed a more positive perception of their children’s resilience, significant only for “empathy and respect” (0.036) and “problem-solving skills” (0.001). Resilience decreased significantly with age and higher education levels, and children living with their parents showed higher resilience.
Conclusion
Study results show differences between the perceptions of resilience in children and their parents, which are influenced by sociodemographic characteristics.
Child; Child labor; Parents; Resilience, psychological; Perception