Resilience Among Urban African American Male Adolescents: A Study of the Protective Effects of Sociopolitical Control on Their Mental Health

Resilience refers to the notion that some people succeed in the face of adversity. In a risk‐protective model of resilience, a protective factor interacts with a risk factor to mitigate the occurrence of a negative outcome. This study tested longitudinally the protective effects of sociopolitical co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of community psychology 1999-12, Vol.27 (6), p.733-751
Main Authors: Zimmerman, Marc A., Ramírez-Valles, Jesus, Maton, Kenneth I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adolescence
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Adolescents
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Affect
African American
African Americans - psychology
Anxiety - prevention & control
Anxiety - psychology
Baltimore
Biological and medical sciences
Black American people
Black people
Depressive Disorder - prevention & control
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Female
Helplessness, Learned
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Males
Medical sciences
Mental Health
Miscellaneous
Political Culture
Political Participation
Politics
Psychology, Adolescent
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Resilience
resiliency
Risk Factors
Self Concept
Self Esteem
Social Control, Formal - methods
Social Participation
Social psychology
Teenagers
Urban areas
Urban Population
Urban Population - statistics & numerical data
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Summary:Resilience refers to the notion that some people succeed in the face of adversity. In a risk‐protective model of resilience, a protective factor interacts with a risk factor to mitigate the occurrence of a negative outcome. This study tested longitudinally the protective effects of sociopolitical control on the link between helplessness and mental health. The study included 172 urban, male, African American adolescents, who were interviewed twice, 6 months apart. Sociopolitical control was defined as the beliefs about one's capabilities and efficacy in social and political systems. Two mental health outcomes were examined—psychological symptoms and self‐esteem. Regression analyses to predict psychological symptoms and self‐esteem over time were conducted. High levels of sociopolitical control were found to limit the negative consequences of helplessness on mental health. The results suggest that sociopolitical control may help to protect youths from the negative consequences of feelings of helplessness. Implications for prevention strategies are discussed.
ISSN:0091-0562
1573-2770
DOI:10.1023/A:1022205008237