Resilient English speaking Canadians: predictors from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth

Resilience research has been growing several decades but has not addressed a national Canadian population. This study constructed a Structural Equation Model (SEM) of resilience using secondary data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. The sample used for analysis consisted of English speaking Canadians born in 1987 and 1988. The model analyzed two groups: Primary (642 332 female, 310 male) and Supplemental (298 146 female, 152 male). The model contained measures for Biological Sex and Family Income (ages 7-8), Praise, Quality Time, and Verbal Abuse (ages 9-10), Physical Abuse and Parental Alcohol Use (ages 11-12), Community Size, close relationships, and anti-social behavior (ages 13-14), and Optimism and Problem Solving (ages 21-22). Results suggest that resilience functions for Canadians as it does for previously studied American, European, and Asian populations and underscores the contributions of close relationships throughout childhood and positive Problem Solving skills in adolescence for Resilience in young adulthood. --leaf ii.