Michael Ungar, Ph.D.

Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience,

School of Social Work, Dalhousie University

Twitter @MichaelUngarPhD www.michaelungar.com

www.resilienceresearch.org

I Still Love You: Nine Things Troubled Kids Need from their

Parents, Caregivers, and Community Service

Providers

Nine Things Troubled Kids

Need From Their Parents

Percent Prevalence of Depressed Affect vs ACE Score

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 1 2 3 >=4

Percent Affected Percent Unaffected Anda, R. F., Felitti, V. J., Bremner, J. D., Walker, J. D., Whitfield, C., Perry, B. D., … Giles, W. H. (2006). The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood: A convergence of evidence from neurobiology and epidemiology. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 256, 174–186.

Percent Non-Prevalence of Depressed Affect vs ACE Score

81.6 74.8 65.9 61.2

51

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 1 2 3 >=4

Percent Affected Percent Unaffected

 In the context of exposure to significant adversity resilience is our capacity to navigate and negotiate for the resources we need to do well.

Resilience is…

 Contextual  Risk Individual  Risk

Service  Use  Experience

Resilience

Func9onal  Outcomes

.37*

-­‐.30*

-­‐.17* -­‐.38* .33* .07

-­‐.03

-­‐.21* .53*

.18* -­‐.14 .13

 Life  9me  

Service  Use  Accumula9on

Ungar, M., Liebenberg, L., Armstrong, M., Dudding, P., & van de Vijver, F. J. R. (2012). Patterns of service use, individual risk factors and contextual, and resilience among adolescents using multiple psychosocial services. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37(2-3), 150-159.

Service  Use  Experience

Resilience

Func2onal  Outcomes

.37*

.33*

Nine Things All Children Need 1.  Structure 2.  Consequences 3.  Parent-child

connections 4.  Lots and lots of

strong relationships 5.  A powerful identity

6.  A sense of control 7.  A sense of

belonging/culture/spirituality/life purpose

8.  Rights and responsibilities

9.  Safety and support

© Michael Ungar, 2011 www.michaelungar.com

8

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

% C

hang

e re

lati

ve t

o 20

06-0

7

Patients in the ED for Mental Disorders

Mental Disorders Other

Increase in health service use: % change in rates per 100,000 population since 2006-07. Rate of ED visits for children and youth aged 5-24 for mental disorders is up 44% since 2006-07. Rate of hospitalizations for children and youth aged 5-24 for mental disorders is up 30% since 2006-07 – this is compared to a 13% decrease in all other hospitalizations.

Source: Discharge Abstract Database, CIHI, 2014. Hospital Mental Health Database, CIHI, 2013 National Ambulatory Care Reporting System, CIHI, 2014 Note: Based on Main Problem and MRDX

 Structure:   “There are people in my life who expect me to ____________.”

 Consequences:   “When I don’t meet expectations, I know that ____________ will happen.”

 Parent-Child, and Other, Relationships:   “I can reach out to my __________ to get help when I need it.”

Exercise: Assessing my resources for resilience:

 Identity:   “I feel respected for what is special about me when I’m with/at/doing ____________ .”

 Power and control:   “In my ____________ I get to participate in making decisions that affect my ___________.”

 Belonging, spirituality (sense of cohesion):   “At my ____________ people miss me when I’m not there.”

 Sense of culture   “There are places such as __________ where I can celebrate my culture and beliefs.”

 Rights and Responsibilities (social justice):   “When I’m with others at my ____________ I feel treated fairly.”   “When I’m with ______________ I am responsible for myself/others.”

 Safety and Support:   “I am well-cared for by __________.”   “I feel safe when I’m with/at ___________.”

 The greater a child’s exposure to adversity, the more these 9 Protective Factors and Processes matter

The principle of Differential Impact

Exposure to Adversity

Differential Impact of Protective Factors and Processes

LOW

-

HIGH

Help Line

Mentors

+

Impa

ct o

n D

evel

opm

ent

0

Exposure to Adversity

Differential Impact of Protective Factors and Processes

LOW

-

HIGH

+

Impa

ct o

n D

evel

opm

ent

0

Parentification

Foster Care

Michael Ungar, Ph.D.

Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience

School of Social Work, Dalhousie University

Twitter @MichaelUngarPhD www.michaelungar.com

www.resilienceresearch.org

Thank you! Nine Things Troubled Kids

Need From Their Parents