Resiliency among Australian school students: A report on 43,799 students. . Author Name: Dr J-F Contact Email: [email protected]RESILIENCY AMONG AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL STUDENTS: A REPORT ON 43,799 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS. J-F 1 , Fuller, A 2 ., Swabey, K 1 ., Pullen, D 1 ., Waldrip, B 1 ., Wicking, A 2 ., & Wicking P 2 . (University of Tasmania, Tasmania) ( 2 Resilient Australia, Melbourne) Abstract Resilient Youth Australia Limited has surveyed 43,799 school (e.g. Government, Independent and Catholic) students (ranging from grade 3 to grade 12) in Australia. This Resiliency Survey took on a wellbeing framework with the purpose of capturing positive psychological systems/competencies of school aged students. Specifically, Resiliency Survey collected information with regards to strengths of children and adolescents in terms of 40 developmental assets, incidences of depressive disorders in terms of general health, hopefulness, and their relationship to key risk and protective factors. Results from these surveys provided key baseline insights into internal and external assets drivers of resilience; and students‟ ability to cope, manage and address everyday pressures and stressors. The findings, showed that students sort and drew support from relationships, community, school and family to build their own capacity for wellbeing. Equally, it also captured that students were able to positively foster their own development through their own value system/s and positive hope for the future. Findings from this study provide a baseline profile of resilience; which schools and agencies can use to inform their own practice and policy. Keywords: resilience, developmental assets, students, support, relationships Introduction Capturing child and adolescent resilience is a core business for any Educational Institution as it provides a baseline insight into students‟ social and emotional wellbeing. The complexity around child and adolescent resilience is multi-faceted and requires a clearer understanding of actual psychological systems/competencies (i.e., developmental assets, capacities and capabilities) in terms of what children and adolescents possess and how they exercise these; for these systems/competencies act as protective factors which in turn are likely to buffer and maintain positive development (Cicchetti, 2010; Masten, 2007). Equally, capturing the above mentioned positive systems/competencies are important for they are likely to allow for positive adjustment and a positive adaption in demanding emotional and societal contexts (Lee, Cheung, & Kwong, 2012). A baseline profile of resilience with regard to psychological systems/competencies are lacking with regards to what school students possess and how they apply these to navigate their own life course, especially during their complex and multifaceted developmental phases. Thus, the aim of the study, is to capture baseline resilience with regard to capacities, capital, competencies and capabilities of school students in terms of what they possess and how they exercise these. Thus, the following study reports on assets, capacities, mental health, wellbeing, hope and capabilities among Australian school students. In part this study adds to the development of a unified theory on resilience so that all necessary assets are empirically accounted for within the construct of resilience (Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000). In general resilience has been explained in terms of individuals possessing qualities and capabilities that they can adopt successfully to function in varied contexts, and in their ability to bounce back from difficult and/or traumatic situations (Cicchetti & Cohen, 1995; Fergus & Zimmerman, 2005; Florian, Mikulincer, & Taubman, 1995; Harriman, 1958; Garmezy, 1991; Kobasa, 1979; Olsson, Bond, Burns Vella-Brodrick, & Swayer, 2003; Maddi & Khoshaba, 1994; Rhodewalt & Zone, 1989; Ramanaiah, Sharpe, & Byravan, 1999). Here the emphasis is on a positive outcome in terms of good mental health, positive function, and a good level of social competence, when confronted with or exposed to risk and/or difficult situations (Olsson et al., 2002). In other words, resilience here is seen as a performance marker of one‟s functionality (Olsson et al., 2002). While
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Resiliency among Australian school students: A report on 43,799 students. . Author Name: Dr J-F
alongside PYD, there is still a need to empirically test these concepts with towards to developing an
integrated and unified theory of resilience (Luthar et al., 2000).
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