From the online groups

A topic of discussion this month has been self-acceptance. How do families support young people when they are struggling with their deafness and what it means in their lives?

In their article “Parenting and resilience”, Hill et al discuss the parental factors that have been shown to promote resilience in children and help them cope with everyday stresses:

• warmth, responsiveness and stimulation
  
• adequate and consistent role models
  
• harmony between parents
• spending time with children
• promoting constructive use of leisure
• consistent guidance
• structure and rules during adolescence.
  

Certain factors within the child or adolescent also affect resilience including:

• emotional security and attachment style
  
• self-esteem (valuation of self)
  
• self-belief (confidence of being effective)
  
• self-efficacy (understanding of one’s strengths and limits)
• social competence
• autonomy, also known as internal locus of control or the belief that his/her behaviour is guided by his/her personal decisions and efforts
•  capacity for problem solving
• sense of purpose and future, including religious faith
• planful competence (having clear goals and an organised strategy for achieving them)
• humour.
  

Parents are in a position to encourage these characteristics in their children. Warm, sensitive and supportive care by parents or others has been found to be critically important for the generation of most of these qualities, especially those to do with security, confidence and trust in others. Parenting practices that encourage autonomy, offer effective discipline and provide links to the community and social networks promote resilience in young people.

There is little evidence as to whether promoting resilience in deaf children will help them cope with the stresses in their lives but it seems to hold much promise.

Read the full report: http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/parenting-resilience-children.pdf