Resilient Parents – Resilient Children. How the Mental Resources of a Family Influence Child’s Mental Resilience
Abstract
The child’s mental resilience is a resource based on biological (temperament, health) and social factors (parental influence and family atmosphere). Research on dealing with stress shows that a resilient family forms a resilient child. The aim of the study was to seek relationships between the mental resilience of parents and their children. The subjects of the study were parents of preschool children (N = 129) aged 5-6 years (M = 5.77, SE = 0.44), including 121 mothers and 115 fathers, from eight kindergartens in Krakow. Two psychometric tests, filled in by the parents, were used: DECA (Devereux Early Childhood Assessment) observational scale, which measures child’s mental resilience and its components (initiative, self-control and attachment), and the intensity of child’s problematic behaviours; as well as the SPP-25 (Resiliency Assessment Scale) to assess the level of resil- iency in parents. The study showed strong positive relationships between the mental resilience of parents and the mental resilience of their children, both as a whole and in terms of its components. No significant differences in resistance profiles were observed between children with higher and lower levels of problematic behaviour. The experience of difficult life events was associated with a lower level of all aspects of mental resilience in both children and their parents.
The popularization of knowledge about the importance of having and developing the mental resilience of parents for the mental health of their children is an important social task. This goal can be achieved e.g. by educating parents in kindergartens.
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