Social Support and Self-Efficacy Regarding Resilience Among Adolescents Free Paper Sample on SunnyPapers.com

Background to the study

Resilience to trauma is dependent upon many factors, some individual and others within the social context in which we live. Exposure to trauma is pervasive in societies worldwide and is associated with substantial costs to the individual and society, making it a significant global public health concern. Trauma exposure is common in children and adolescents around the world. A substantial proportion of adolescents globally are exposed to trauma as a result of armed conflict, natural disasters, and other humanitarian emergencies (World Health Organization, 2013). An estimated 230 million children currently live in countries impacted by armed conflicts (UNICEF 2014), which increases risk of experiencing displacement, witnessing violence and death, and being orphaned, kidnapped, raped, or recruited as child soldiers (UNICEF, 2009).

Nearly one fifth of the global population is comprised of youth aged 14-24 years, with 85-90 per cent of this group living in low-income countries (Fisher and Cabral de Mello, 2011; Sawyer and others, 2012). Common traumatic events include interpersonal violence (e.g., physical abuse by caregivers, intimate partner violence, and assault), rape, sexual assault, life-threatening accidents or injuries, natural disasters, civil conflict, and terrorist attacks (American Psychiatric Association 2013).

Children’s and adolescent’s development around the world is threatened by disasters, political violence, pandemics, and other adversities that can have life‐altering consequences for individuals, families, and the future of all societies. Such disasters result into traumatic experiences that many adolescents around the globe are unable to recover from.

Reports from the United Nations indicate that tens of millions of adolescents each year are exposed to such disasters and conflicts, and many are displaced as a result (UNHCR, 2010; UNICEF, 2011, 2012). Millions more suffer abuse or neglect from caregivers (Cicchetti 2013) and sex trafficking or other forms of exploitation (Hartjen & Priyadarsini, 2012). The beginning of the 21st century was punctuated by a terrifying sequence of events affecting large numbers of victims across the world. These include 9/11 and subsequent terror attacks, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean triggered by one of the largest earthquakes in human history, the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the 2008 earthquake in China, H1N1 flu, and the triple disaster of 2011 in Japan of earthquake, tsunami, and meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. All these situations lead to trauma that impacts not just adolescents but also adults, families and the entire society at large.

Adolescence is a developmental period with the highest risk of exposure to many types of traumatic life experiences, including many forms of interpersonal violence (e.g., physical assault by non-family members), rape, sexual assault, accidents, injuries, death of parents and traumatic social network events (McLaughlin, Koenen, Hill et al. 2013). Exposure to trauma appears to be particularly detrimental when it occurs in childhood or adolescence. Trauma exposure in adolescents disrupts numerous aspects of development in cognitive, emotional, and social domains, leading to adverse mental health and educational outcomes (Koenen, Moffit, Caspi, Taylor, Purcell 2003).

Adolescents’ exposure to potentially traumatic events that prompt a range of reactions from survivors (Ogle, Rubin, Berntsen, &Siegler, 2013), hasss increased in frequency and intensity over the past several years, and rates of victimization have also steadily increased (Finkelhor, Turner, Ormrod, &Hamby, 2009). Current research shows that adolescents exposed to multiple traumatic events often develop more severe mental and physical difficulties than adolescents who experience single-incident traumas (Finkelhor, Ormrod, & Turner, 2007).

There is an undeniable connection between childhood trauma and chronic adverse reactions across the lifespan including low levels of resilience (Bilchik& Nash, (2008) & Perry, (2001)(2006). Traumatic experiences are associated with serious and persistent, long-term physical, psychological, and substance abuse issues for adolescents. In addition to adverse effects on physical health, research indicates that early childhood trauma has particularly adverse effects on adolescent self-esteem, coping skills, school performance, self-regulation, critical thinking, self-motivation, and the ability to build healthy relationships (O’Connell, Boat, & Warner, 2009).

Similarly, research on trauma such as the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study ACES (2005) agrees with the adverse effects on adolescents’ wellbeing. It demonstrates that the effects of complex trauma on adolescents can be long lasting. According to the Cook et al (2005), there are seven areas within an adolescent’s typical functioning that may be adversely affected by complex trauma and they include attachment, affect regulation, dissociation, behavioral control, cognition, self-concept and even biology.

Youth and adolescents are more likely to be exposed to more than one form of trauma (Suliman et al, 2009). A clinical study in the United States among children who had experienced trauma found that 77 per cent had reported more than one type of exposure and 31 per cent had experienced five or more types of trauma (Briggs and others, 2013).

Majority of children and teenagers in care facilities have experienced emotional abuse, physical abuse, or emotional neglect and almost all youth reported some level of physical neglect. The multiple level of trauma experienced was found to have a significant negative impact on their individual, relational, and community resilience features (Collin-Vézina et al 2011). Youth who had experienced multiple levels of trauma revealed the lowest levels of resilience and that there was no gender difference in the results.

Most of the resilience literature on youth has evolved around three interacting factors that affect adaptation to adversity among youth and these are qualities of the individual (e.g., temperament, intelligence, self-efficacy, character strength ), qualities or nature of the youth’s family (e.g., parenting practices), and qualities of the youth’s broader social environment (e.g., involvement in extra-curricular activities) (Luther et al 2000).

Strong family connectedness, social support, belief systems and internal strengths in the individuals interact together to enable positive adaptation to adverse life situations for adolescent children (Siti and Rosaleen 2001). Family and social support is considered the most vital such as help in the form of financial, practical and moral support available from the extended family and kin network. In addition, the belief system that views life as a journey of challenges and that facing life’s many tribulations is an inevitable process in the journey of growth contributes to building resilience. Personal traits include intelligence, internal locus of control and knowledge of resources.

Panter-Brick et al (2015) also posits that family plays a salient role in fostering resilience among adolescents exposed to chronic trauma. Family level support is considered the most important factor in promoting resilience for the teenagers experiencing trauma and that interventions for children facing chronic exposure to violence, multiple and ongoing adversities need to focus on family-level prevention as well as protection. This means that once the functioning in the family breaks or disintregrates, levels of resilience among the adolescents will also be negatively affected. Panter-Brick et al (2015) agrees with (Siti and Rosaleen 2001), (Luther et al 2000), (Zhai, Liu, Zhang, Gao et al. 2015)and (Ssenyonga, Owens, Olema 2013) on the salient role of family in influencing resilience to trauma among adolescents.

Also in relation to familial influences, parenting style has a significant direct effect on resilience and post-traumatic symptoms (Zhai, Liu, Zhang, Gao et al. 2015). Parenting style and resilience also have significant effects on adolescents’ post-traumatic symptoms. The family status whether harmonious or not plays a significant influence on post-traumatic symptoms. In broken families where factors, such as separation of parents, physical abuse and quarreling are present, post-traumatic symptoms and low resilience levels are manifested in these adolescents.

Exemplary social support from family members, age and previous history of displacements are major factors that contribute to resilience (Ssenyonga, Owens, Olema 2013). Individuals with high levels of resilience have a strong family and social support system and usually have experience displacement before which factors build their resilience despite chronic exposure to trauma.

A few Studies in Uganda that indicate presence of trauma and resilience have been done. Despite severe trauma exposure, some children show posttraumatic resilience as indicated by the absence of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and clinically significant behavioral and emotional problems. Posttraumatic resilience is attributed to lower exposure to domestic violence, lower guilt cognitions, less motivation to seek revenge, better socioeconomic situation in the family, and more perceived spiritual support (Klasen2011). Association is made for familial and character strengths in contributing to resilience to traumatic situations of war exposure for children.

Furthermore, some of the refugees in the Ugandan refugee camps show high levels of resilience despite the multiple traumatic situations they are exposed to such as war, rape and displacement. Resilience among them is as a result of availability of exemplary social support from family members, age and previous history of displacements according to (Ssenyonga, Owens, Olema 2013).

There is a significant relationship between resilience and gender that is to say; resilience is significantly higher among the female adolescents than male adolescents (Nourian, M. et al 2016) however other a study by Collin Vezina 2011 contradicts this study because she found no gender differences in her study results of resilience to trauma. They also found that children’s early history before entering care especially in the state of their families has a significant relationship with their performance and those children with a history of poor physical behaviors, physical or sexual abuse and family separation, parental addiction to alcohol and narcotics showed less resilience.

In other studies, however, it is self-efficacy that plays a salient role in fostering resilience among adolescents and youth at risk and there is a significant correlation between factors of resilience and self-regulation (Garde et al 2017). Self-regulation an indicator of self-efficacy such as having goals, learning from mistakes, coping and confidence, tenacity, adaptation to change, and tolerance of negative situations is significantly related to resilience factors. This shows that in order to improve resilience in students in socially at-risk situations, it is very important to work on their self-efficacy.

Additionally, in an academic setting where most adolescents are found, there is a significant positive relationship between academic self-efficacy and resiliency in high school students (Mousa Riahi, Nadia Mohammadi, Reza Norozi, Mahmood Malekitabar 2015). Adolescents who have a high level of academic self-efficacy are able to successfully navigate the challenges they experience in school such as defeat and failure, and have higher levels of endurance and stability as opposed to those with low levels of self-efficacy.

Similarly, self-efficacy in problem solving, scholastic performances, and empathy among adolescents is highly associated with greater resilience (Elisabetta Sagone, Maria Elvira De Caroli 2016). Adolescents who perceive themselves as highly able to try to figure out things they don’t understand, who know that they are competent, manage stress with sense of humour, are highly adaptable to different situations and have self-control tend to be resilient even in the face of challenges and traumatic situations.

IQ is also significant in predicting psychological adjustment among youth at high risk but not low risk of exposure to trauma (Tiet et al., 1998). The authors suggest that adolescents at high risk who possess higher intelligence may be better able to cope with adverse life events than their peers with lower intelligence.

Additionally, among those adolescents who experience high levels of family adversity during childhood, resilience is more likely to manifest in those who have at least average IQ, succeed and enjoy school (Fergusson &Lynskey, 1996). Good academic performance, strong self-belief and self-esteem, and a future perspective characterize those who have high levels of resilience and are able to overcome adversity (Resnick et al, 1997). Nota et al (2004) also agrees with the salient role of self-regulation which is an aspect of self-efficacy, and academic achievement on resilience among young people.

The level of resilience is significantly lower in primary school children than in middle school and high school students and academic progress among the children and teenagers plays an evidently significant role in fostering resilience and reducing adversity among adolescents especially those experiencing adverse or traumatic life situations (Nourian, M. et al 2016).

However, Grotberg (2001) found no link between resilience and high academic achievement or even economic status. According to Grotberg 2001, the confusion is that children from middle or upper income famililies who are succesful in school are more resilient than those from poor families who don’t perform well because they do not get involved in drugs, deliquency, behavioural problems as children from poor families. The study indicates that such families tend to protect their children by involving them in different more productive activities and not because they are more reslient. The author acknowledged familial influence but contradicts education and economic input in fostering resilience among young people.

Another contradiction is from (Werner & Smith, 2001) who show that children and adolescents can still be resilient despite experiencing family breakdown, separation and traumatic early life experiences. Children and teenagers some of who were classified “at risk” due to early life exposure to at least four additional risk factors, such as serious health problems and familial alcoholism, violence, divorce, or mental illness end up outperforming children from less harsh backgrounds; more are stably married and employed, and fewer suffer trauma effects by the time they are adults. Several who function poorly in adolescence turn their lives around in adult hood clearly showing that there are different outcomes to every traumatic experience. Similarly about half to two-thirds of children who are resilient overcome their initial traumatic life experiences, such as growing up in families with a mentally ill member, being abused, or having criminally involved parents (Grotberg 1999). These studies show that children and adolescents can still be resilient despite early traumatic experiences contradicting solid family functioning as the major influence for resilient outcomes among adolescents.

Also contrary to Panter-Brick et al (2015), (Siti and Rosaleen 2001), (Luther et al 2000), (Zhai, Liu, Zhang, Gao et al. 2015) and (Ssenyonga, Owens, Olema 2013) assertion of the salient role of family in fostering resilience among teenagers, the assets that inform the resilience of street youth in South Africa exposed to trauma do not include family (Theron &Malindi 2010). The assets that foster resilience were categorized as socio-cultural resources and individual strengths. The social cultural resources included local role-models who were successful despite difficult life experiences, enabling adults, and cultural heritage. Individual strengths included personal agency that included the ability to be assertive and seek help and support from social support agencies, the ability to be stoical about their difficulties and to be reflexive encouraged resilience. Subjected to chronic trauma, this unique population lacks some of the protective factors previous studies have associated with resiliency development such as family and social economic status yet results show that they are still resilient.

From the studies discussed, family, social support and self-efficacy are common features that foster resilience for adolescents experiencing trauma and difficult life situations. However, some studies contradict these findings and provide inconsistencies that present a gap in knowledge and applicability.

Statement of the Problem

Robust research has been done on trauma and resilience among children and youth around the world. While most studies on resilience to trauma among adolescents have focused on association of self-efficacy (e.g Garde et al 2017, Mousa Riahi, Nadia Mohammadi, Reza Norozi, Mahmood Malekitabar 2015, Elisabetta Sagone, Maria Elvira De Caroli 2016, Resnick et al 1997& Nota et al 2004) others focus on family and social support as the main contributors to resilience (e.g Panter-Brick et al 2015, Siti and Rosaleen 2001, Luther et al 2000, Zhai, Liu, Zhang, Gao et al. 2015 and Ssenyonga, Owens, Olema 2013). Though there is consensus among scholars that resilience to trauma is influenced by the family, social support and self-efficacy, such information is however equivocal. This is because some studies have found out that some adolescents still remain resilient despite family breakdown, absence of any family connection or even any form of social support (e.g Theron &Malindi 2010, Grotberg 2001 & Werner & Smith 2001). They also do not show how breakdown in the family or absence of any family connection influences resilience for those youth exposed to traumatic situations.

Moreover, most of the resilience research has its origins in Western and middle income countries while few studies have been done in Africa presenting a gap in low income countries and areas with chronic and constant trauma such as Uganda. The findings are then given a universal application yet the experience of resilience is nonetheless remarkably varied and multifaceted and may not be universally applicable to all. Furthermore, studies in Uganda have not examined a correlation between family factors and self-efficacy factors despite indications of importance of these factors in fostering resilience among any group of people. Also the few studies done on trauma and resilience in Uganda have focused on one population, the victims of war(Klasen2011), (Ssenyonga, Owens, Olema 2013), yet there has been vast and continuous trauma exposure for adolescents over the last three decades.

There is need to explore how these factors may impact on resilience for adolescents especially those exposed to trauma. This research will therefore explore the relationship between family breakdown, social support, self-efficacy and resilience among adolescents facing trauma in Kampala, Uganda with a hope to demonstrate the relationships between these variables.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between family breakdown, social support, self-efficacy and resilience among adolescents facing trauma in Kampala, Uganda.

Study objectives

The study aims to explore the relationship between family breakdown, social support, self-efficacy and resilience among adolescents facing trauma. Specific objectives include,

To find out the prevalence of trauma among adolescents in Kampala.
To establish the relationship between family breakdown and resilience among adolescents facing trauma.
To find the relationship between social support and resilience among adolescents facing trauma.
To find the relationship between self-efficacy and resilience among adolescents facing trauma.
To explore strategies that can be put in place to foster resilience among traumatised adolescents.

Research questions

What is the prevalence of trauma among adolescents in Kampala?
What roles does the broken family system play in influencing resilience among adolescents facing trauma?
What is the relationship between social support and resilience among adolescents facing trauma?
What is the relationship between self-efficacy and resilience among adolescents facing trauma?
What strategies can foster resilience among traumatized adolescents?

Hypotheses

There is no significant relationship between family breakdown and resilience among adolescents facing trauma.
There is no significant facing relationship between social support and level of resilience among adolescents exposed to trauma.
There is no significant relationship between self-efficacy and resilience among adolescents facing trauma.

Justification of the study

It is important to carry out this study because many youths exposed to trauma are unable to deal with the challenges and post traumatic effects to trauma exposure and perhaps there are more factors available to enhance youth resilience to trauma that need to be investigated. For youth to survive and thrive after exposure to trauma there is need for them to be resilient yet studies examining the role of family breakdown, social support and self-efficacy on resilience among the adolescents facing trauma are inconclusive with some findings contradicting what general literature proposes. Furthermore, studies examining the relationship between familial breakdown, social support, self-efficacy and resilience in Uganda are scanty and have not focused on traumatised youth in Kampala.

The study may add more current information on resilience among youth facing trauma as well as helping parents, teachers, social workers, caretakers, counsellors and community workers in understanding how best to help traumatised adolescents face challenges and survive despite trauma exposure. The study findings may help sensitize community, schools and social support programs for the youth about the importance of fostering resilience for vulnerable groups such as individuals exposed to trauma.

The findings of the study may also likely benefit NGOs and government bodies working with traumatized youth to come up with programs and activities to help traumatized adolescents they are helping navigate and deal with results of trauma exposure successfully even on their own.

Scope and Limitations of the study

The study will select respondents from organizations that deal with adolescents that have been exposed to one or different forms of trauma such a rape, war, death of family members, street children and adolescents in communities that are at high risk like slums. Specifically, the study will consider the relationship between family breakdown, social support, self-efficacy and resilience to trauma among adolescents in Kampala. The location of the study will be Kampala district in the central parts of Uganda. It’s bordered by Mukono District in the East and Wakiso to the south, north and west. The Buganda tribe is the major tribe living in Kampala followed by Banyankole, and Basoga. These tribes all have different cultural beliefs and practices as well as different religious beliefs, including Christians, Muslims, Hindus and traditionalists with Christians dominating the population. Both male and female participants will be evaluated in the study.

Assumptions of the study

The study assumes the following

Resilience is of utmost importance in majority of adolescents exposed to traumatic situations.
Participants in the study will be honest in giving their views and opinions.
Participants are willing to be interviewed
That the participants have been exposed to traumatic situations at some point in their life.

LITERATURE REVIEW

[Introduction

The study aims at investigating the relationship between family breakdown, social support, self-efficacy and resilience among adolescents facing trauma in Kampala, Uganda. This chapter will discuss the theoretical frame work and literature related to family breakdown, social support, self-efficacy and resilience among adolescents facing trauma. The theory of focus will be the resilience theory. Literature reviewed will be based on the variables of the study, that is, the influence of family breakdown, social support and self-efficacy on resilience prevalence among adolescents facing trauma in Kampala, Uganda. Finally, the chapter will show the conceptual frame work in the study. The conceptual frame work shows how the variables in the study are interrelated.

Theoretical Framework

The research will use Garmezy’s theory on resilience to inform the study. Dr Norman Garmezy was a clinical psychologist and is often noted as being the founder of research in resilience. His research began with a focus on schizophrenia and mental illness and shifted to research on stress resistance, competence and resilience in 1984. Garmezy was the founder of Project Competence, a longitudinal study into positive outcomes in at-risk children.

Garmezy defined resilience as, “not necessarily impervious to stress but rather resilience is designed to reflect the capacity for recovery and maintained adaptive behaviour that may follow initial retreat or incapacity upon initiating a stressful event” (Garmezy, 1991). Although slightly old, his theory provided the cornerstone into resilience research and was specific to at risk use teenagers and children hence the reason for me choosing it to provide the theoretical frame work to this study.

According to Garmezy, protective factors at the individual and familial levels and external factors to the family all influence resilience in a child and adolescent. Individual factors are the dispositional attributes of the child such as self-efficacy, temperament, positive responsiveness to others and cognitive skills and abilities. Familial factors include family warmth and cohesion, presence of a caring adult in the absence of parents and concern by parents about the child’s wellbeing. Social support factors are those factors that are external to the individual or family and may include use of external support systems, a strong maternal substitute, concerned teacher and a good institutional structure like a church.

His theory developed three models that explained resilience and they include a compensatory model, protective model and challenge model and are the major concepts of the study.

A compensatory model is defined when a promotive factor counteracts or operates in an opposite direction of a risk factor. A compensatory model therefore involves a promotive factor having a direct effect on an outcome. This effect is independent of the effect of a risk factor (Zimmerman & Arunkumar 1994). It sees resilience as a factor that neutralizes exposure to risk (O’leary 1998). For example, adolescent boys from poor backgrounds are more likely to engage in petty crimes than those from financially stable backgrounds but good parental supervision may help to compensate for the negative impact of poverty. Therefore, resilience in the adolescent maybe as a result of good parenting which compensates for the poor home environment.

A protective factor model is where assets or resources modify the effects of a risk on a negative outcome (Zimmerman & Arunkumar 1994). For example, in the case of a poor background leading to engagement of boys in petty crimes, good parental supervision operates as a protective factor because it moderates the effects of poverty on criminal behavior.

The third model of resilience in the resilience model is the challenge model where association between a risk factor and an outcome is curvilinear (Garmezy, Masten, Tellegen 1984). That when one is exposed to a risk factor whether at a high or low level there is a resultant negative outcome. However, moderate levels of risk exposure are related to less negative outcomes or positive outcomes (Luthar & Zelazo 2003.). In the challenge model, a risk factor provided is not too extreme can actually enhance a person’s adaptation (O’leary1998).

In the challenge model, low levels of risk exposure may be beneficial because they provide youth with a chance to practice skills or employ resources by providing a challenge. The risk exposure, however, must be challenging enough to elicit a coping response so the adolescent can learn from the process of overcoming the risk. In challenge model, risk and promotive factors studied are the same variable but whether it is a risk or is promotive for an adolescent, depends on the level of exposure (Luthar & Zelazo 2003).

For example too little family conflict, may not prepare youth with an opportunity to learn how to cope with or solve interpersonal conflicts outside of the home yet too much conflict where parents are for example physically abusive to each other may be debilitating and make the adolescent feel hopeless and distressed. A moderate amount of conflict, however, may provide youth with enough exposure to learn the development and resolution of conflict. As youth successfully overcome low levels of risk, they become more prepared to face increasing risk.

Garmezy’s Resilience theory was chosen for this study because it examines the factors that influence resilience among children and adolescents facing adversity. This is important because exposure to trauma has significant implications in the life course of an adolescent. Many people employ different aspects of resilience to deal with significant trauma and thus the theory may contribute to understanding the process of developing resilience when exposed to traumatic situations.

Summary of Concepts of the Resilience Model

In conclusion the resilience model by Garmezy forms the basis on which the resilience to trauma variable in the present research will be observed. Resilience to trauma occurs in the frame work of protective and risk factors to which an adolescent is exposed and the relationship between the variables of family, social support, self-efficacy and resilience to trauma is of significant importance in informing youth resilience. Alternatively, the same variables may be responsible of poor resilience of youth through negative family systems, social support and poor self-efficacy. The basic tenets of the resilience model help in conceptualizing resilience to trauma among youth and therefore give the frame work on which to base research questions to be tested.

Review of Related Literature

This section discusses the findings of studies done on the main variables of the study and how these findings contribute to understanding the current study. The variables include family breakdown, social support, self-efficacy as the independent variables and resilience to trauma as the dependent variable. The association between these variables formed the basis for the literature review.

Prevalence Of Trauma

Trauma exposure is common in children and adolescents around the world. A substantial proportion of children globally are exposed to trauma as a result of armed conflict, natural disasters, and other humanitarian emergencies (World Health Organization, 2013). An estimated 230 million children currently live in countries impacted by armed conflicts (UNICEF 2014), which increases risk of experiencing displacement, witnessing violence and death, and being orphaned, kidnapped, raped, or recruited as child soldiers (UNICEF, 2009) yet research on resilience for such children is unequivocal.

Reports from the United Nations indicate that tens of millions of adolescents each year are exposed such disasters and conflicts, and many are displaced as a result (UNHCR 2010; UNICEF 2011&2012). Millions more suffer abuse or neglect from caregivers (Cicchetti 2013) and sex trafficking or other forms of exploitation (Hartjen&Priyadarsini 2012).

Uganda in particular has experienced a high number of traumatic situations over the last few decades that have exposed many adolescents to trauma. Almost 80% (1.4 million people) of the population of northern Uganda have fled from the Lord’s Resistance Army terror to camps for internally displaced people and are dependent on international feeding programs (Allen, 2006). Child soldiers are one of the most complex traumatized populations of children and adolescents and typical experiences inflicted on children in armed groups are beatings, torture, witness of killings, and sexual abuse (Betancourt et al., 2008). Such children experiencing trauma are at risk of developing mental health problems (Okello et al., 2007). Research in northern Uganda found high levels of trauma-related difficulties amongst the conflict-affected population such as depression, post traumatic stress disorder, suicide ideations, inability to cope with other difficult situations (H. Liebling et al 2016).

Ugandans have had to endure the HIV/AIDS outbreak that killed many people especially in the 1980s which left thousands of families broken and divided (Mugerwa, Marum, &Serwadda, 1996). Additionally, Uganda is one of the countries with the highest rates of accidents with most local people under threat and constantly exposed to such horrific scenes of injuries and deaths as a result of accidents (Jayaraman et al., 2009). 490 trauma patients were admitted to hospitals in 2007 accounting for 9.4% of admissions with 70 percent males and 30 percent females (Hulme, P. 2010). In addition to such traumatic experiences recently, Uganda experiences riots and demonstrations that are usually dealt with by use of force that individuals end up getting severely injured while others end up losing their lives (Daily Monitor, 2011).Moreover a combination of previous instabilities, high rates of accidents, high rates of HIV/AIDS have highly contributed to family breakdown and wore down individual capacity to bounce back or put up reasonable resistance to life’s problems especially when or after experiencing such traumatic situations.

The American Psychological Association (2014) defines resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress Resilience provides a psychological buffer in moments of adversity, is positively adaptive, and increases personal well-being (Reivich &Shatté, 2002).To add to the current literature in resilience to trauma in Uganda, the study hopes to show the prevalence rates of adolescents exposed to trauma among adolescents in particular as most information on trauma exposure is general.

Family breakdown and trauma resilience.

The UNESCO (1992) report stated that a family is a kinship unit and that even when its members do not share a common household, the unit may exist as a social reality. The family as an integrated and functional unit of society has for a considerable period of time captured the attention and imagination of researchers and while the family itself is a matter of study, equally important for research such as is this study, is its role as a factor influencing and affecting the development, behavior, and well-being of the individual (Sharma, R. 2013).

Many studies seem to agree that family support is instrumental in fostering resilience to trauma among youth exposed to trauma. According to Luther et al (2000), most of the resilience literature on youth has evolved around three interacting factors that affect adaptation to adversity among young people and these are qualities of the individual (e.g., temperament, intelligence), qualities of the youth’s family (e.g., parenting practices), and qualities of the youth’s broader social environment (e.g., involvement in extra-curricular activities). However, equally lacking is the in-depth explanation of the roles that a broken home or family may play on the resilience of the adolescent yet many adolescents all around the world are increasingly growing up in broken homes.

Siti and Rosaleen (2001) carried out a qualitative study, involving face-to-face interviews and focused group discussions on the interaction of individual, family and social factors associated with resilience of Malay Muslim children in divorced families. The study consisted of seven respondents with five social workers and two children purposefully selected. The study demonstrated that family, social support, belief systems and internal strengths in the individuals interact together to enable positive adaptation to adverse life situations.

According to the study, family provided protection and that care and concern from family makes a substantial difference in helping adolescents from divorced families cope and be resilient in the face of traumatic exposure. Though the study may be applicable to adolescents experiencing trauma as a result of family violence, breakdown and separation, it was specific to children from divorced families and may not apply to adolescents experiencing other form of trauma exposure. In addition the population sample was very small and such findings may not be given a universal application to all adolescents from broken homes. The study sample also used views of adults who had experience of this trauma as adolescents but does not give views of adolescents currently experiencing this form of family breakdown and its consequent trauma experiences to provide concurring data and as such, findings may not be generalized to adolescents leaving a gap on adolescent input in order for findings to be substantiated.

Panter-Brick et al (2015) carried out a study in Kabul, Afghanistan and the Afghan refugee camps in Peshawar, Pakistan. They interviewed 11–16 year old students as well as their principal caregivers on trauma memories, mental health and resilience of these adolescents. Results from the study showed family level support as the most important factor in promoting resilience for the teenagers experiencing trauma and that interventions for children facing chronic exposure to violence, multiple and ongoing adversities need to focus on family-level prevention as well as protection. Although the study shows the salient role of family in fostering resilience in adolescents facing trauma, it is limited in showing how other factors may interact with family to influence resilience to trauma among adolescents and in which ways. The population was also limited to children in refugee camps leaving a knowledge gap on whether the results may hold true for adolescents experiencing other forms of family breakdown and traumatic situations such as bullying in school, forced marriage, rape or defilement from family members etc which are common occurrences among traumatized youth in Kampala.

Zhai Y et al. (2015) conducted a research study to analyze the relationships between parenting style, resilience and post-traumatic symptoms among adolescents in China. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on adolescents aged 12 to 18 years old. The adolescents had been exposed to traumatic events at one point during their lives. According to the study, parenting style had a significant direct effect on resilience and post-traumatic symptoms.

Also according to the study, the family status whether harmonious or not plays a significant influence on post-traumatic symptoms. It was indicated that in families where factors, such as physical abuse and quarreling are present, post-traumatic symptoms and low resilience levels are manifested in these adolescents. This study was carried out in a highly developed country whose traumatic situations may completely vary from those of an adolescent from a low developed country making compatibility of results difficult. Also the study focused on adolescents who have dysfunctional families and hence presenting a need to examine the relationship between absence of and family and resilience among traumatized adolescents such as these. Additionally, the study did not factor in any other factors that may influence and account for resilience in addition to familial influences. The study also doesn’t provide for adolescents without any exposure to trauma and how they develop resilience.

In the Middle East, Nourian et al (2016) conducted a study to determine resilience and its contributing factors in high-risk adolescents living in residential care facilities affiliated to Tehran Welfare Organization. The study was conducted on eight adolescents living in 15 different governmental residential care centers in 2014. It was found that children’s early history before entering care has a significant relationship with their performance and resilience levels. Those children with a history of parental addiction to alcohol and narcotics showed less resilience. This study goes to show how other members of family within the family system especially parents influence an adolescents resilience to trauma.

The study focused on early life traumatic exposure and does not provide for those adolescents who experience chronic exposure to trauma or chronic exposure to continued negative family influence and how this may relate to resilience in traumatized youth. It also is limited to children in residential care facilities and hence presents a need for more research on adolescents exposed to trauma and difficult early life experiences who may not be able to access such care. The study sample is also small limiting universal generalizability of results due to the multifaceted nature of adolescents exposed to trauma and the traumatic situations experienced coming from a broken home.

In Uganda, Klasen (2011) examined posttraumatic resilience in extremely exposed adolescents who were former Ugandan child soldiers. Interviews with 330 former Ugandan child soldiers aged 11–17 years with 48.5% females were carried out. Results showed that despite severe trauma exposure, 27.6% showed posttraumatic resilience as indicated by the absence of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and clinically significant behavioral and emotional problems.

Posttraumatic resilience was associated with lower exposure to domestic violence, better socioeconomic situation in the family, lower guilt cognitions, less motivation to seek revenge, and more perceived spiritual support showing familial contributions to resilience. Although this study is relevant in Uganda, the study population was limited to Ugandan former child soldiers who make up only a small population of youths exposed to severe trauma. This presents a need for a more wholesome population of youth with different forms of trauma exposure to provide more concrete data. Furthermore, the studies were limited to those adolescents who still had a form or family connection and as a result such findings cannot be generalized to those adolescents who lost all family connections during the war presenting a need to examine resilience to trauma among such adolescents from broken homes.

In a related study about the salient role of family in contributing to trauma resilience, Burnette (2018), conducted research focused on 49 Indigenous women in the united states that aimed at finding out the contribution of family and cultural protective factors on resilience for women experiencing intimate partner violence. The women identified family as the most important factor in fostering resilience.

They highlighted instances of family togetherness, tight-knit extended families support which promoted unity and connectedness as their strongest sources of resilience and growth in such traumatic environments. According to the women the potential protective factors despite experiencing the adversity of intimate violence, included family support, extended family affirming nonviolent values, tight-knit extended family unity and connectedness, and elders’ instilling indigenous principles through storytelling, and enculturation fostering. However what these studies did not show is in which ways breakdown in their basic family influenced their resilience i.e breakdown with their spouse but rather focused on extended family support.

Social Support and Self-Efficacy Regarding Resilience Among Adolescents