Doctoral Degrees (Psychology)
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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Psychology) by Author "Botha, Anja"
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Item Open Access The influence of risk and resilience factors on the life satisfaction of adolescents(University of the Free State, 2014-01) Botha, Anja; Van den Berg, H. S.English: The current South African adolescent cohort grew up in a decade of sociopolitical transformation, a period which has been accompanied by inevitable and continuous instability in the economic, education and health system especially. In general, South Africans are confronted with high levels of trauma exposure due to crime and violence, family dissolution, domestic abuse, accidents, illness and injury. Young adolescents, however, are further confronted with developmental changes in every area of functioning. In fact, early adolescence is often indicated as a critical life stage for interventions that are aimed at increasing well-being. Research has shown that many adolescents achieve positive outcomes, such as life satisfaction, despite the risks they are exposed to. These adolescents could be seen as resilient. Protective factors, such as strengths and coping, are considered important contributors to resilience. Continued research is needed to understand the process of resilience, especially for developing, multicultural countries such as South Africa. Thus, the aim of this study is to clarify the interrelationship between trauma exposure, strengths, coping, resilience and life satisfaction in South African adolescents. A non-experimental, correlational design was used for this purpose. A random sample of 1 073 Grade 8 learners from 10 Free State schools in both urban and rural areas was included in the study. The data were collected with standardised psychometric tests that were administered during school days under the supervision of registered psychologists. The measuring instruments, provided in English, Afrikaans and Sesotho, were a biographical questionnaire; a shortened version of the Stressful Live Events Screening Questionnaire (Goodman, Corcoran, Turner, Yuan, & Green, 1998); the Behavioural and Emotional Rating Scale (Epstein & Sharma, 1998); the Coping Schemas Inventory (Wong, Reker, & Peacock, 2006); the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents (Prince-Embury, 2006); and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). The relations between the different variables were examined by means of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results indicate that trauma exposure is prevalent among South African adolescents, with black adolescents being exposed more than white adolescents. Also, exposure to multiple traumatic events is common. The findings show that adolescents’ levels of resilience and life satisfaction are average, whereas black adolescents’ level of resilience was proven to be significantly lower than that of white adolescents. Significant correlations were found between most of the variables included in the study. This provides evidence for the interrelated nature of the variables, and confirms the complexity of the interaction between risk and protective factors in the resilience process. The model that hypothesises the direction of the relationships between the variables was a good fit for the group of black adolescents and a reasonable fit for the total group of participants. Trauma exposure decreases life satisfaction, resilience and strengths, while it increases emotional reactivity. The results highlight the vital role of strengths in the context of trauma exposure because all of the strengths measured in this study increased resilience and decreased emotional reactivity. Coping strategies were also shown to increase resilience. Increased resilience predicts increased life satisfaction and provides evidence that developing resilience in adolescents might contribute positively to their subjective well-being. Intervention is indicated especially for black adolescents because the results point to their being less resilient than white adolescents. The findings could be used to inform intervention programmes that are aimed at enhancing well-being in adolescents. In this regard, the findings indicate that a strength-based approach be followed and that adolescents’ range of coping skills be increased. Also, the need for psycho-education for adolescents is highlighted. Parents, schools and government institutions should not only be made aware of the significance of investing in adolescents, but should also be assisted to develop the skills needed to serve as role models and sources of support in developing adolescents’ resilience.