resilience: a dynamic...

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT 1998 22 (2) 263ndash285

Requests for reprints should be sent to either Antonio Freitas who is now at the PsychologyDepartment Yale University Box 208205 New Haven CT 06520-8205 USA or to GeraldineDowney Psychology Department Columbia University New York NY 10027 e-mail toeither antoniofreitas6yaleedu or gdowney6paradoxcolumbiaedu

This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health(R29-MH51113) and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation and by a WT Grant FacultyScholar Award to Geraldine Downey We thank Ozlem Ayduk Sheri Levy Walter Mischeland two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper

q 1998 The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development

Resilience A Dynamic Perspective

Antonio L Freitas and Geraldine DowneyColumbia University New York USA

Identifying characteristics that distinguish youth who achieve adaptiveoutcomes in the face of adversity from those who do not has furthered ourunderstanding of developmental psychopathology However accumulatingevidence indicates that particular characteristics rarely serve exclusively riskor protective functions that individuals who seem resilient on one index oftendo not seem so on other indices and that individuals often are not equallyresilient across contexts These ndings call for a dynamic conceptualisation ofresiliency that can account for why the ways children cope with stressors varyacross domain development and context We organise resiliency researchinto a framework based on a recently proposed dynamic conceptualisation ofpersonality (Mischel amp Shoda 1995) This framework assumes thatunderstanding why some children show resilience in the face of adversitywhereas others show difculties requires identifying (a) the content of andrelational structure among relevant psychological mediators such ascompetencies expectancies values and goals and (b) the relation betweenthese psychological mediators and relevant features of the environment Toillustrate the potential of this approach to further our understanding ofresiliency we examine and reconsider the link between IQ and conductproblems

Growing up Clayton faced a constellation of risks ubiquitous to economicallydisadvantaged inner-city neighbourhoods like his Somewhat surprisingly atage 6 he took a verbal IQ test and received a score of 130 signicantly abovethe mean among his classmates Years later Claytonrsquos teachers reported thathe stood out due to his ability to quickly master the material he learned As a

264 FREITAS AND DOWNEY

teenager Clayton had no criminal record was in the honoursrsquo programme atschool and had plans to go to college Rudy Claytonrsquos downstairs neighbourhappened to earn a similarly high verbal IQ score at age 6 In junior highschool however Rudy did well in some classes but poorly in others He beganskipping school At age 13 he was caught writing grafti on a subway car Byage 16 Rudy had dropped out of school and was arrested for selling drugs

Because they grew up in a socially disadvantaged environment Clayton andRudy faced heightened risk of negative developmental outcomes such asconduct problems (Dumas amp Wahler 1983 Farrington 1978 Offord Alderamp Boyle 1986 Patterson Kupersmidt amp Vaden 1990 Rutter 1981)Socioeconomic disadvantage has been shown to exert its inuence onconduct problem aetiology through such proximal contextual mediators asparental discipline motherrsquos social support cognitive stimulation andexposure to violence (Dodge Pettit amp Bates 1994) Explaining whyindividuals such as Clayton manage to achieve positive outcomes in spite ofsuch adversity can potentially inform intervention efforts designed to fosteradaptive coping and thus has been the focus of considerable research (egCicchetti amp Garmezy 1993 Garmezy 1990 Radke-Yarrow amp Brown 1993Rutter 1987 Werner amp Smith 1989)

An appropriate rst step in such research is to delineate the characteristicsof individuals who have managed to achieve adaptive outcomes in the face ofstress Noting for example Claytonrsquos high IQ one could posit that Claytonrsquoscognitive abilities helped him navigate his tough environment Thusidentifying personal or social characteristics as ldquoprotectiverdquo factors inrelation to maladaptive outcomes has been a major focus of resiliencyresearch Using 30-year longitudinal data from a multi-ethnic cohort forexample Werner and Smith (1989 1992) identied several characteristicsdistinguishing low socioeconomic status (SES) youth who functioned wellfrom those who did not Radke-Yarrow and Sherman (1990) employing acase study method to examine children at risk for developingpsychopathology due to a parentrsquos affective illness also identied severalcharacteristics unique to children able to achieve adaptive outcomes

Studies such as these and many others (eg Conrad amp Hammen 1993Fergusson amp Lynskey 1996 Wyman Cowan Work amp Kerley 1993) haveidentied a set of characteristicsmdashboth personal (ie high intelligence socialskills physical attractiveness) and environmental (ie having a responsiblecaregiver)mdashthat appear to protect children from some of the ill effects oftheir dangerous environments These protective characteristics arehypothesised to exert their benecial inuences in either of two ways First aprotective factor can have an equally benecial effect across individualsirrespective of each individualrsquos risk status (eg Garmezy Masten ampTellegen 1984 Masten et al 1988) This type of effect is indicated by a

DYNAMIC RESILIENCE 265

negative main effect of the protective factor (eg intelligence) on themaladaptive outcome of interest (eg aggression) Alternatively theprotective factor can have a particularly benecial effect on high-riskindividuals relative to low-risk individuals This type of effect is indicated byan interaction between the protective factor and a risk factor (eg BrookNomura amp Cohen 1989 Cowan amp Work 1988 Zimmerman amp Arunkumar1994)

However accumulating evidence indicates that particular factors rarelyserve exclusively risk or protective functions Thompson and Calkins (1996)for example argue that the ability to regulate onersquos emotions can serveeither an ameliorative or a debilitative function for children raised inrisk-laden environments Children in abusive homes for example can avoidfurther abuse by learning to control the emotional outbursts that couldattract negative attention and lead to further abuse (for a review seeCicchetti Ganiban amp Barnett 1991) On the other hand an observationalstudy of preschool children and their mothers (half of whom were depressedand half well) showed that the children best able to modulate their emotionsin response to mothers acting sad also were independently rated as highest inanxiety and were more likely to have depressed mothers (Radke-YarrowZahn-Waxler Richardson Susman amp Martinez 1994) This study suggeststhat children who tend to overly regulate their emotions perhaps in thenormatively adaptive service of establishing a warm attachment with acaregiver may also be more likely to experience anxiety when these effortsprove unsuccessful with an affectively ill parent

Moreover children deemed resilient in one domain may not be so deemedin other domains Luthar and her colleagues have shown that at-risk childrenwho seem resilient on one index often do not seem so on other indices or onthe same index at a different point in time (Luthar 1991 1993) LutharDoernberger amp Zigler (1993) for example showed that 85 of theinner-city children who seemed resilient based on one domain of socialcompetency also showed signicant signs of impairment on one or moredomains six months later In our hypothetical example for instance Rudyscored above average on IQ at age 6 at which time he was doing well inschool but later evidenced both minor and serious conduct problems

A DYNAMIC-ORGANISATIONAL APPROACH

Explaining Claytonrsquos and Rudyrsquos outcomesmdashand the resiliency data theyare intended to symbolisemdashrequires a model of resiliency that can accountfor the ways children facing similar levels of adversity vary across domaindevelopment and context One means of understanding such diverseoutcomes is to examine processes through which particular protectivefactors can interact with other variables to predict adaptive or maladaptive


outcomes Indeed consonant with previous calls for a ldquoprocessrdquo approach tothe study of coping and resilience (eg Cicchetti amp Schenider-Rosen 1986Coyne amp Downey 1991 Garmezy 1991 Rutter 1987) researchers haveincreasingly recognised the value of understanding the interactionalprocesses inuencing individualsrsquo behaviour as they cope withenvironmental stressors Egeland Carlson and Sroufe (1993) for exampleadvocated the importance of elucidating how individualsrsquo behaviours can beorganised into patterns predictive of adaptive or maladaptive outcomes Wefurther advocate examining the organisational structure of the individualrsquospsychological mediating units and gauging the relation between suchorganisation and the individualrsquos coping efforts in the context of specicenvironmental contexts Specically we examine how a recently proposeddynamic conceptualisation of personality (Mischel amp Shoda 1995 in press)can advance understandings of processes underlying resilient andnonresilient outcomes

The CAPS Model

Mischel and Shodarsquos cognitive-affective personality system (CAPS) theorywas formulated to reconcile recurrent ndings that although individualsdiffer from one another on trait dimensions low cross-situationalconsistency within individuals on these dimensions belies the traitsrsquopresumed stability (eg Hartshorne amp May 1928 Mischel 1968 1973Mischel amp Peake 1982 Peterson 1968) Mischel and Shodarsquos work suggeststhat the stability and coherence of personality lies within the distinctive ldquoif then rdquo contingencies guiding individualsrsquo behaviour and giving rise totheir predictably varying behaviour patterns across situations (ShodaMischel amp Wright 1993 Wright amp Mischel 1987) Thus whereas a childmay not show equal achievement across psychologically dissimilar situations(eg when under the tutelage of a stern teacher vs when under the tutelageof a more exible teacher) the child may display similar achievement levelsin psychologically similar situations (eg when the math teacher is perceivedto be exible vs when the science teacher is perceived to be exible)Thus rather than as a bundle of traits personality is construed as acoherent signature of behaviours that vary reliably across psychologicalsituations

Incorporating advances in social cognition (eg Bandura 1986 Cantor ampKihlstrom 1987 Dodge 1986 Higgins amp Bargh 1987) and building onprevious social learning research and theorising (Kelly 1955 Rotter 1954)Mischel and Shodarsquos theory posits that (a) personality is expressed via anindividualrsquos psychological mediating units (ie encodings expectanciesaffects goals and competencies) that respond differentially but reliably to


distinct environmental features and that (b) these units are linked byactivation pathways forming distinct networks Consequently specicenvironmental features (eg a teacherrsquos behaviour) excite or inhibitparticular of an individualrsquos mediating units (eg expectations of rejection)and these units in turn excite or inhibit other particular units within thesystem (eg goals for relating to a teacher) ultimately determining how achild will use hisher competencies to generate behaviour (eg whether thechild will use hisher cognitive competency in the service of academicachievement or in the service of thinking of ways to test the teacherrsquospatience) The individualrsquos behaviour will then affect the environmentaltering the stimulus the individual receives This model thus predicts thatresilient outcomes are a product of psychological mediating units interactingwith both (a) features of the environment and (b) other mediating units(which themselves reect prior interplay between experience andpredisposition) thus forming a stable processing structure that promotesadaptive functioning in the face of challenge

The CAPS framework bears a number of implications for resiliencyresearch First a particular competency of the individual (eg verbal facility)cannot be deemed to serve a protective or risk function without knowing itsrelation to features of the environment Thus demonstrating verbal facilitymay prove more benecial in the service of completing English homeworkthan when used to devise clever verbal taunts that instigate physicalaltercations Although this general point has been previously raised(Egeland et al 1993 Rutter 1987) it is not yet typically reected inempirical research on resiliency Instead the emphasis of empirical studieshas been on identifying generalisable protective or compensatory factors(for reviews see Basic Science Behavioral Task Force 1996 Werner 1995for a notable exception see Luthar et al 1993)

Second the CAPS framework distinguishes among a number of differenttypes or classes of psychological mediating units that are important toconsider when developing a process model of coping outcomes Theseinclude expectanciesbeliefs biases goals values affects and competenciesResearch on resilience has traditionally emphasised individualcompetencies or assets and paid less attention to how relevant expectanciesbiases goals and values shape how onersquos competencies get used Yetresearch that examines the role of some of these types of social cognitivemediators (eg encoding biases) in accounting for individual differences inchildrenrsquos adjustment has yielded important insights (for reviews see Crickamp Dodge 1996 Downey Feldman Khouri amp Friedman 1994) This is alsotrue of research on stress and coping in adulthood (Coyne amp Downey 1991)However within a resiliency framework a number of these mediators havenot yet been extensively investigated such as childrenrsquos expectancies andgoals and values


Third rather than positing that an assortment of discrete traits contributeto a developing individualrsquos ability to cope with stress the CAPS approachassumes that it is the distinctive organisation of activating pathways linkingpsychological mediating units as well as the availability of the unitsthemselves that will inuence an individualrsquos coping capability (see alsoCicchetti 1990 Sroufe 1979) Thus when considering the interactionsbetween a youthrsquos competencies (eg intelligence) expectancies (egldquoselling drugs earns money that is otherwise very scarcerdquo) and goals (egldquohave nice clothesrdquo) it is possible to begin to develop a coherentpsychological prole of the youth and to understand how such a youth mightnegotiate decisions arising in particular developmental context Moreoverwe can begin to understand the youthrsquos phenomenological experience of thecoping process for example how the youthrsquos goals and motivations givemeaning to and drive hisher behaviour One benet of such a focus is that itnecessitates the examination of the psychological processes underlying theyouthrsquos apparently successful or nonsuccessful coping efforts In ourhypothetical example for instance Rudy evidenced high intellectualcapacity but later sold drugs and dropped out of school Understanding hiscase requires considering how his goals and expectancies for example couldhave affected the manner in which he expressed his cognitive competenciesRudy may have not expected that his academic efforts would have been aswell rewarded as would efforts to earn cash and achieve status with peersthrough delinquent behaviour such as selling drugs Thus Rudy may havedecided to direct his cognitive competencies toward becoming a skilled drugdealer

In summary the CAPS approach provides a way of integrating threeessential components of a process approach to resilience that havebeen previously identied as warranting attention (a) context (eg Rutter1987) (b) psychological mediating units (eg Crick amp Dodge 1996Downey amp Walker 1989 Downey Khouri amp Feldman 1997) (c) afocus on how psychological mediators are organised in relation to oneanother and to relevant features of the context (Cicchetti 1990 Sroufe1979)

Within the CAPS framework then the task for resiliency researchbecomes identifying the relevant psychological mediating units likely to beaccessible to a particular at-risk sample and examining how they areorganised in relation to one another and to the environment in order tobring to light processes through which such youth are able to achieve aspecic adaptive or maladaptive outcome This task requires carefulanalyses of the coping challenges that youth face in specic environmentsand of the psychological mediating units that are likely to be particularlyrelevant in such environments

In the remainder of this paper we discuss how one much-studied


1The vast majority of extant literature on delinquency examines boys in relation to thisoutcome We anticipate accumulating research on girlsrsquo aggressive behaviour (Grotpeter ampCrick 1996)

population of children at heightened risk for delinquencymdashboys1 of lowerSES (Dumas amp Wahler 1983 Farrington 1978 Offord et al 1986Patterson et al 1990 Rutter 1981)mdashare able or not to avert this outcomeFocusing especially on the much-studied relation between IQ anddelinquency we attempt to understand under what conditions and howonersquos current cognitive competencies as expressed in onersquos IQ test scorecould affect processes leading to delinquent or nondelinquent behavioursamong boys in high-risk environments Such an approach requires that werst delineate some psychological mediating units likely to be accessible indisadvantaged environments and relevant to how onersquos cognitivecompetencies will affect onersquos delinquency status Clearly this set ofmediating units that we have selected to discuss is not exhaustive but ratheris provided as an example of the types of units that can be used to constructan organisational structure through which to understand developingindividuals facing high-risk environments

Expectancies

According to Bowlby (1969 1973 1980) children whose emotional needsare not met will develop insecure working models of their social worldsfounded on expectations of future interpersonal rejection Indeed Downeyand her colleagues (eg Bonica amp Downey 1997 Downey et al 1997Feldman amp Downey 1994) have shown that early experiences of rejectioncan lead children to become rejection-sensitive that is to anxiously expectand to readily perceive rejection in social interactions and to respond toperceived rejection with hostility Poor children encounter increasedamounts of societal rejection in the form of less positive and more negativeattention from teachers for example (Gouldner 1978 McLoyd 1990)Thus in a process analogous to that proposed by Bowlby childrenencountering such societal rejection could be predicted to form insecureworking models of their interactions with the larger society leading them tofeel insecure about their relation to societal agents such as schoolteachers

Accordingly if Rudy happened to encounter teachers that manifestedsuch a prejudice against poor children he may have come to feel sensitive tothe rejection of other teachers This could have led to his hostile encoding oftheir behaviour (Dodge 1986) and to his subsequently antagonistic stancetoward them leading to his increasing dissociation from school In contrastif Clayton did not encounter this environmental feature (a teacher biasedagainst poor children) he may have looked on his teachers with greater


equanimity leading to his increased involvement in school where hiscognitive competencies could be rewarded and further developed leading tofurther rewards

Moreover childrenrsquos expectations about the rewards associated withdifferent types of behaviour are likely to affect which behaviours thechildren enact Herzberger and Hall (1993) for example showed thatchildrenrsquos expectations about whether or not their aggressive actions wouldbe rewarded predicted their enactment of such actions Observationalsupport for this role of expectancies is provided by Snyder and Pattersonrsquos(1995) nding that the more often boysrsquo coercive acts during conicts withtheir mothers were rewarded by conict termination the more often theboys later tended to be more aggressive with their peers In a similar fashionthe degree to which a child perceives that delinquent behaviours are likely tobe rewarded will help determine whether or not they are enacted Rudy forexample after observing other boys sporting new sneakers and clothes as aresult of dealing drugs may have come to expect that his drug-selling effortsalso would be equally rewarded And because children of lower SESespecially ethnic minorities (Huston McLoyd amp Garcia Coll 1994) tend tolive in areas with high concentrations of unemployment (Fagan 1993Shapiro 1981 Wilson 1987) their expectations of obtaining moreconventional rewards may be pretty low Observing the disappointment oftheir parents and older siblings they may come to expect that whateverefforts they make toward societally conventional success will be unlikely tobe rewarded (Wilson 1995) This can operate to lower onersquos expectations ofbeing able to earn conventional rewards (Bandura 1982) Thus Rudy orClaytonrsquos particular expectations about which rewards are relatively morelikely to be attained (reecting their particular social learning histories)would have affected the ways in which they chose to use their cognitivecompetencies

Values and Goals

It is important to consider whether the values of the youthrsquos peer groupdiffer signicantly from those promulgated by societal and educationalinstitutions In cases where there is no substantial discrepancy between peerand societal values fewer competing values will vie for the childrsquosendorsement and the child will be more likely to pursue the predominantgoal In contrast if there is a marked discrepancy between peer andsocietally sanctioned values the child will need to choose which of the valuesto endorse In a classic sociological life history of a juvenile delinquent froma Chicago ghetto (Shaw 19301966) for example a youth traces howthe prison values he learned (ie that ldquosnitchesrdquo deserve being stabbed)guided his later behaviour In this case there was little competition from


larger society and the youth adopted the predominant values available in hisprison environment

In areas of concentrated poverty where conventional means of achievingself-worth (eg productive employment quality education) are mostlyabsent achieving the respect of others often through violence orintimidation is widely valued by adolescents (Anderson 1994) Thus thegoal of not being disrespected may be more likely to be peer sanctioned ineconomically disadvantaged areas however family and societal institutionssuch as schools may promote incongruent goals such as to go to college Inthis case then to some extent the child must choose between the goals of hispeers and those of larger society This choice will depend on the accessibilityand organisation of the childrsquos psychological mediating units In ourexample for instance Rudyrsquos expectancies of teacher rejection may have ledhim to more strongly favour peer- than school-endorsed values and goalsClayton alternatively may not have been well liked by his peers and mayhave thus favoured school-endorsed values by default Consequently thedistinct goals that these children pursued may have facilitated theirmarkedly different means of manifesting their cognitive competencies

Self-Regulatory Competencies

Self-regulatory competencies often have been proposed to underlie ormediate the production of antisocial behaviour (for a review seeGottfredson amp Hirschi 1990) and several studies have documentednegative correlations between adolescentsrsquo ability to self-regulate and theirenactment of aggressive behaviour (eg Cicchetti Rogosch Lynch amp Holt1993 Pfefferbaum amp Wood 1994 Tremblay Bouerice Arseneault ampNiscale 1995) Browneld and Sorenson (1993) for example showed thatadolescentsrsquo self-reported impulsivity scores in conjunction with theirbeliefs about delinquency and with their peersrsquo levels of delinquencypredicted their ofcial delinquency reports

Thus as the Browneld and Sorenson study indicates self-regulatorycompetencies can be expected to most precisely predict important outcomesonly when their organisational relations to other psychological mediatingunits (eg expectancies) are considered Further self-regulatory behavioursthemselves are inuenced by environmental features as well as by otherpsychological mediating units within the individual In one rigorousprogramme of experimental research Mischel and his colleagues haveshown how environmental features (eg the ethnicity and gender of theexperimenter and the availability of an adult model) and cognitive processes(eg attention allocation strategies and cognitive restructuring of thereward) will help determine the duration of time that children will forsake asmaller reward for a delayed but more desirable one (see eg Mischel


Shoda amp Rodriguez 1989 Rodriguez Mischel amp Shoda 1989 For a reviewsee Mischel Cantor amp Feldman 1996) For example on a Caribbean islandcolonised by the British Caribbean children opted to receive a smallimmediate reward rather than to wait for a more valuable reward promisedby a white male experimenter to be delivered the next day however thesesame children chose the more valuable delayed reward when it was offeredby a black female (Mischel 1961) It seems that the children held greatertrust that the black female would deliver on her promise and thus were morewilling to await it Indeed converging evidence indicates that the degree towhich one expects to receive an awaited reward will determine the extent oftime that one will await it (eg Loewenstein 1992 Rachlin 1995)

When considered in relation to adolescentsrsquo other psychologicalmediating units and experiences the general principles derived from thisbasic research indicate processes likely to affect the degree to whichadolescents will self-regulate For example if Rudy had only very rarelyreceived rewards from teachers he may have expected that future effortstoward receiving such recompense would go unrewarded Thus he may havebeen less inclined to self-regulate in the service of obtaining long-termschool-related rewards Similar to individuals whose expectations ofreceiving long-term rewards are experimentally manipulated to bepessimistic Rudy may have striven for those rewards that seemed mosteasily obtainable

APPLYING THE CAPS APPROACH

As the preceding sections indicate the cognitive-affective personalitysystem (CAPS) approach to understanding resilience advocates gauging thecharacter of an individualrsquos psychological mediating units (ie expectanciesencodings competencies affects and goals) and more importantlyunderstanding how the units are organised to inuence one another and tointeract with environmental features to affect the coping process Weanticipate that such ne-grained analyses will allow more accuratepredictions about how a particular mediating unit or feature of theenvironment will affect the coping process For example knowing whatvalues a youth endorses will afford more certainty in predicting how hiscognitive competencies will affect hisher efforts at coping with challenge

The approach that has more commonly guided empirical studies ofresilience is to attempt to examine the independent predictive utility ofpresumed ameliorative personal or environmental factors This approachhas as its ideal the laboratory experiment where the use of randomassignment and experimental manipulation allow the identication ofunambiguous causal effects However as the literature on stress and copingin adulthood has revealed efforts to grapple with the basic interdependence


of person and context have raised questions about the suitability of theANOVA-based experimental design as a metaphor for understanding howresilience occurs in the face of risk (Coyne amp Downey 1991) To illustratesome of the methodological and theoretical challenges that arise when oneinstead adopts the CAPS approach of explaining how psychologicalmediating units and features of the environment are organised to predictoutcomes we next review several studies that employ the alternativeapproach of gauging the unique predictive utility of a single variable on anoutcome Specically we consider research examining whether childrenrsquoscognitive competencies as reected in their verbal IQ scores protect themfrom enacting antisocial behaviour This question has been the focus ofconsiderable research

IQ AND DELINQUENCY

Much research has shown that children able to overcome great oddsfrequently score higher on IQ tests than at-risk youth who fare less well (egFergusson amp Lynskey 1996 Herronkohl Herronkohl amp Egolf 1994Masten et al 1987 Radke-Yarrow amp Sherman 1990) In particularnegative correlations between verbal IQ and ofcial and self-reporteddelinquency have been frequently noted (for reviews see Brier 1995Hinshaw 1992 Hirschi amp Hindelag 1977 Moftt 1993a b Zeidner 1995)Some authors interpret this relation as evidence that verbal IQ protectsagainst the development of delinquency (eg Hirschi amp Hindelag 1977Moft 1993b) Supporting such a hypothesis requires demonstrating asignicant relation between IQ and delinquency which does not decreasesubstantially when controlling for potentially confounding variables such asSES and self-regulatory competencies

Lynam Moftt and Stouthamer-Loeber (1993) sought to test thishypothesis in that study that was exemplary in its attention to identifying keyalternative explanations for the association between IQ and delinquencyand for its use of a large representative sample The authors concluded thatthere was a direct negative relation between IQ and delinquency whencontrolling for such competing variables as SES To explain why Rudy andClayton who show similar levels of IQ and of social adversity differ indelinquency these authors might potentially look for other relevantvariables on which the boys differ such as self-regulatory competencies

How would the CAPS approach outlined above approach the task ofunderstanding the relationship between IQ and delinquency Rather thanattempting to rule out the effect of variables such as SES self-regulatorycompetencies and expectancies on the relation between IQ anddelinquency the emphasis would be on examining the processes linkingthese variables with IQ and with delinquency Such a process approach bears


both conceptual and methodological implications First attempts to controlthe effects of a SES for example on the relation between IQ anddelinquency versus attempts to elucidate processes interrelating SES withthese variables are likely to lead to differing operationalisations of SESAnd as discussed later conicting ndings regarding the inuence of SESon the relation between IQ and delinquency illustrate how differingoperationalisations of this variable can affect not only whether or notprocesses are revealed but also the predictive utility of this variable Seconda study discussed later illustrates how research from a CAPS approachexamining how the organisational structure of mediating units (self-regulatory and cognitive competencies) becomes linked with antisocialoutcomes yields conclusions differing from studies examining the uniquepredictive utility of cognitive versus self-regulatory competencies Third asexemplied lastly in a study of factors affecting female prisonersrsquo recidivismrates a CAPS framework would explicitly distinguish whethercompetencies are available from whether and how they are used inparticular contexts

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Lynam et al (1993) report that the effect of IQ on delinquency remainedrobust after controlling for SES Indeed in contrast to most researchshowing a negative relation between SES and delinquency (see Hinshaw1992 for a review) Lynam et al reported no correlation betweendelinquency and SES in their sample In this case SES was assessed with theHollingshead Scale (1979) a measure of the childrsquos caregiverrsquos occupationalposition and educational attainment In a large prospective sampleFarrington (1995) also reported that SES (dened in terms of parentsrsquooccupational status) did not predict juvenile delinquency convictionHowever Farringtonrsquos data shows that in this same sample delinquencywas predicted by the childrenrsquos household incomes a potentially inuentialcomponent of SES if one considers likely mechanisms through which it canexert inuence on important outcomes such as delinquency

Two other studies also indicate that the criteria used to assess SES willpredict whether or not it can help explain the association between IQ anddelinquency Moftt Gabrieli Mednick and Schulsinger (1981) presenteddata from two longitudinal samples documenting a signicant relationshipbetween IQ and ofcial records of delinquency independent of SES(measured in this case as the prestige of fatherrsquos occupation) In contrastStattin and Klackenberg-Larsson (1993) assessed childrenrsquos IQ scores and amore elaborate measure of their SES (including motherrsquos and fatherrsquoseducation levels and occupational prestige source of family revenue and


quality of the dwelling) at multiple ages and showed that whether assessedat ages 5 8 11 14 or 17 IQ predicted no signicant variance in ofcialdelinquency independent of that predicted by SES (IQ at age 3 did show asignicant correlation r 5 2 16) More consistent with Moftt et alrsquos (1981)ndings however Stattin and Klackenberg-Larsson report that if fatherrsquosoccupational prestige is used as the sole measure of SES then therelationship between IQ and delinquency remains signicant whencontrolling for SES not only at age 3 but also at ages 14 and 17

Thus measures of SES that do not include indices of household incomemay not account for important risk factors that grow from economicdisadvantage and that can promote delinquency For example Farringtonrsquos(1995) data show that although his measure of SES (occupational prestigeof breadwinner) failed to differentiate future delinquents fromnondelinquents the future delinquents were not only signicantly poorerthey also tended to be (p 939) ldquofrom larger-size families living in poorhouses with neglected interiors and supported by social agenciesrdquo Thesendings underscore the importance of using measures that validly capturethe components of SES that reliably predict important outcomes such asdelinquency This need has been previously noted and alternative strategiesof assessing SES have been recommended (Entwisle amp Astone 1994Hauser 1994)

These observations suggest that approaching research problems with thegoal of trying to understand how predictors (eg SES) are meaningfullylinked with outcomes (eg delinquency) may hold greater potential not onlyto delineate such processes but also to examine more adequately the morebasic question of whether the variables are meaningfully related Forexample as the reviewed studies suggest attempts at ldquoruling outrdquo SES donot require the development of specic process models to account for howSES might function to inuence delinquency Such approaches require onlythe use of one or another established measure of SES to rule it out as analternative hypothesis However the discrepant ndings we have reviewedalso suggest that by not attempting to delineate psychological processessome of this research may have operationalised SES in ways not mostconducive to signalling its inuence on the relation between IQ anddelinquency For example if one hypothesised that low SES could predictdelinquency through mechanisms precipitated by phenomena such aschildren valuing but not being able to afford nice clothes and parents beingunable to afford to provide activities (eg summer camp) to occupy theirchildrenrsquos free time then the amount of income a family receives wouldbecome an important component of SES likely to predict delinquency andthus essential to take into account when examining whether and how SESaffects the relationship between IQ and delinquency


Understanding How the Organisation ofPsychological Mediating Units predicts AntisocialBehaviour

As indicated earlier another important implication of the CAPS approach isthat the organisational relationships among psychological mediating units(eg between self-regulatory and cognitive competencies) should beexamined when attempting to determine how a variable such as IQ levelpredicts an outcome such as delinquency Noting a frequently observednegative relationship between self-regulation and delinquency (egGottfredson amp Hirschi 1990) for example we would ask How will onersquoscompetency at self-regulating inuence the relation between onersquosintellectual competencies and delinquency Lynam et al (1993) also tookaccount of the important variable of self-control again treating it as avariable competing with the hypothesis that IQ has a unique effect ondelinquency These authors assessed self-control by combining the results ofseveral widely varying measures including a computer game procedure andpaper-and-pencil teacher mother and self-reports of impulsivity andreported that the relation between IQ and delinquency remained intact aftercontrolling for this aggregate

Rodriguez Shoda Mischel and Wright (1998) also examined whetherself-control and IQ predicted antisocial behaviour but these researchersrsquoaim of understanding how the two variables could interact to predictaggression rather than of gauging the independent effects of one over theother required a different kind of study Building on the work of Mischeland his colleagues (see Mischel et al 1996 for a review) that delineatedsome processes underlying successful self-regulation Rodriguez et al rstassessed the boysrsquo attention allocation strategies (eg whether theydistracted themselvesmdashan adaptive strategymdashor focused on an availablerewardmdasha maladaptive strategy) during a self-imposed delay-of-gratication task Rodriguez et al next examined how the boysrsquo attention-allocation competencies would combine with the boysrsquo verbal IQ scores topredict their observed aggression In a camp setting to which low-SES boyswere referred for conduct problems each boyrsquos verbally and physicallyaggressive behaviours were recorded over 167 hours by counsellors

Rodriguez et alrsquos results are intriguing The interaction between verbalIQ and attentional strategies accounted for the greatest portion of variancein aggression Boys with low verbal IQ scores evidenced average amounts ofaggression regardless of their attentional strategies score Thus it wasamong high-verbal IQ boys that attentional strategies exerted inuencePredictably boys who demonstrated high IQs and high attentional strategycompetencies showed the least amount of aggression In contrast althoughverbal IQ was not signicantly correlated with aggression in this sample (r 5


2 13) boys with high IQs and low attentional strategies were mostaggressive

Rodriguez et alrsquos ndings highlight the value of approaching risk andresiliency research from a process perspective Their work examinedaggression in a specic context rather than over an extended period of time(as with self-report measures) or across isolated incidents (as with ofcialreports of delinquency) And this context suggests a process leading thehigh-IQ low-attentional-strategy boys to be at the greatest risk of enactingaggression In their camp environment the boys were under constantsurveillance by adults Thus to behave excessively aggressively in thissetting while also avoiding being excluded by counsellors from the campactivities presumably required some manoeuvring that would have beenaided by cognitive competencies Additionally some portion of the high-IQboysrsquo aggressive behaviours probably represented manifestations of theirsuperior verbal facilities in the service of teasing Among such high-IQ boyshowever superior attentional strategies buffered against enacting suchverbal aggression

Thus in this study some boys knew how and were able to allocate theirattention away from a desired reward in the self-regulatory service ofwaiting to receive a more desired reward and these same youngstersappeared to know how and demonstrate their ability to distract themselvesfrom saying the insults that occurred to them in the self-regulatory service ofavoiding punishment by the counsellors Most interestingly this competencydid not affect whether children of lower IQ behaved aggressively in thisenvironment Rodriguez et alrsquos ndings thus demonstrate that a factor canbe assigned a risk or ameliorative function only after specifying its relation toother psychological mediating units and to features of the environment Thestudy shows for example how in interaction with specic environmentalfeatures (ie when observed by counsellors) and with other psychologicalmediating units (ie low self-regulatory competencies) even such aubiquitously cited ldquoprotectiverdquo factor as verbal intelligence canparadoxically increase an individualrsquos risk of behaving aggressively

Distinguishing the Availability of Competenciesfrom their Application

Another important variable often considered as an alternative explanationfor the relation between IQ scores and important outcomes is that ofmotivation (eg Larson Saccuzzo amp Brown 1994 Lynam et al 1993)Thus an individualrsquos motivation to minimise effort on an IQ test couldreect a more general motivation to reject school values in favour ofpeer-sanctioned delinquent values This hypothesis implicitly recognisesthat the test-taking situation may fail to activate the goal of doing well and in


fact may have the opposite effect on some children to a greater extent thanon others Thus a process approach would attempt to distinguish explicitlywhether competencies are available from whether and how competenciesare used

A recent study of recidivism in incarcerated women illustrates this point(Bedell 1997) From a review of the literature Bedell identied a set ofpersonal qualities characteristic of resilient people She then asked womenwho did and who did not return to prison following the end of theirincarceration to indicate which of the qualities applied to them Surprisinglyboth groups of women endorsed equally high levels of social and cognitivecompetencies What was particularly noteworthy about the studymoreover was that many of the personal strengths (eg intelligence)identied as characterising resilient people were identied by recidivists asaiding them in their criminal activities What may have distinguishedrecidivists from women who stayed out were the goals that their resourceswere used to serve These results suggest that apparently unsuccessfulcoping is not necessarily an indication of limited personal resources Ratherunsuccessful coping implicated the use of personal resources toward othergoals in this case criminal goals which in turn reect adaptation to the dailyrealities of life at the margins of society Thus the organisation of theindividualrsquos psychological mediating units and features of her environmentdetermined the protective or risk function or her competencies

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Several implications emerge from this review First we suggest thatinvestigating how variables are organised to predict outcomes may promoteoperationalising them in ways more sensitive to their dynamic capabilitiesFor example several studies demonstrated that different measures of SESnot intended to help illuminate specic processes linking this variable withIQ and with delinquency yielded inconsistent ndings Future researchemploying more process-oriented measures of SES can test explanations(such as that offered earlier) of these seemingly discrepant data Similarlyne-grained analyses of outcome measures can also advance ourunderstanding of the processes underlying them For example although notyet discussed in this paper the distinction between (more hostile) reactiveand (more instrumental) proactive aggression articulated by Dodge and hiscolleagues (eg Dodge Lochman Harnish Bates amp Pettit 1996) forcesmore precise process models of aggressive behaviour generation thatultimately foster more precise predictions Dodge and Coie (1987) forinstance showed that reactively aggressive boys but not proactivelyaggressive boys tend to make characteristic hostile attribution biases for thecauses of othersrsquo behaviour and Crick and Dodge (1996) recently showed


that expectancies about likely rewards versus punishments were found topredict proactive but not reactive aggression

Consequently such process-driven operationalisations of predictorvariables (eg components of SES self-regulatory competencies) and ofoutcomes (eg proactive vs reactive aggression) should advance efforts todelineate the mechanisms underlying adaptive and maladaptive outcomes inthe face of challenge For example the contribution of Rodriguez et alrsquos(1998) study could be enhanced by coding the boysrsquo aggression as reactive orproactive Thus because distinct processes underlie each type of aggressionwe could test distinct process models leading to each type For example asdiscussed earlier Downey and her colleagues have shown that children whoangrily expect rejection tend to interpret othersrsquo ambiguously intentionedbehaviour as intentional rejection (eg Downey et al 1997) It would beinteresting to test whether childrenrsquos rejection expectations would interactwith their self-regulatory competencies to predict reactive but notproactive aggression We would further posit that a childrsquos ability toself-regulate could impede the translation of angry psychological reactionsto rejection into reactively aggressive behaviour Mendoza-Denton andFreitas (1997) have found preliminary support for this hypothesis

Next it has become clear that how one particular factor (eg intelligence)will inuence a developing individualrsquos coping efforts depends on its relationto other psychological mediating units and to features of the environmentThis implication is consistent with emerging models of adult copingprocesses that emphasise understanding the meaning individuals ascribe tostressors as well as the relation of environmental stressors to otherenvironmental variables and to psychological mediating units within theindividual (Brown 1993 Coyne amp Gottlieb 1996) Thus we suggest that oneuseful endeavour of future research on risk and resilience will be to testmodels of how contextually relevant psychological mediating unitsinterrelate to predict adaptive or maladaptive outcomes We havesuggested for example several relevant mediators that can be consideredwhen examining how cognitive competencies could affect processes leadingat-risk youth such as Clayton and Rudy to generate antisocial behaviourThe mediators that we identied were intended to illustrate the importanceof a ne-grained analysis of the contextual demands and affordances facedby the child

For example we posited above that the disparity between peer- andschool-sanctioned values regarding delinquency may be an importantenvironmental feature to consider when examining precipitants ofdelinquency in children like Rudy and Clayton who live in adverse socialcircumstances In turn psychological mediators such as Claytonrsquos andRudyrsquos expectancies about the relative rewards of delinquent versusnondelinquent behaviours will be expected to interact with the beliefs of


their peers to predict socialised aggression Thus if Rudy expected toachieve more valuable rewards through delinquent than throughnondelinquent behaviours then we could expect him to use his cognitivecompetencies toward these ultimately maladaptive ends If howeverClayton expected greater rewards through nondelinquent behaviour thenwe would predict that his cognitive competencies would give him anadvantage over other children holding similar beliefs but demonstrating lessimpressive cognitive competency Prospective measures of childrenrsquoscognitive competencies the gulf between their peersrsquo and societal beliefsabout delinquency and their subjective expectancies for the rewards ofdelinquent versus nondelinquent behaviour can be used to test whetherprocesses such as these operate to inuence how IQ and delinquencybecome linked

CONCLUSION

In sum risk and resiliency research has taken important steps in delineatingthe characteristics that differentiate individuals who achieve positiveoutcomes in the face of stress from those who meet with more negativeoutcomes Building on these ndings researchers have increasinglyadvocated understanding the processes through which such characteristicsimpact coping efforts (eg Cicchetti 1990 Coyne amp Gottlieb 1996 Egelandet al 1993 Rutter 1987) In this paper we suggest how a CAPS approachcan contribute to these efforts and can help understand phenomena such aswhy two children facing similar levels of social adversity and demonstratingsimilar levels of a competency can show markedly different developmentaltrajectories

Manuscript received August 1997Revised manuscript received December 1997

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122ndash147Bandura A (1986) Social foundations of thought and action A social cognitive theory

Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-HallBasic Science Behavioral Task Force (1996) Basic behavioral science research for mental

health Vulnerability and resilience American Psychologist 51 22ndash28Bedell P (1997) Resilient women Risk and protective factors in the lives of female offenders

Unpublished Mastersrsquo Thesis Vermont College of Norwich University VTBonica C amp Downey G (1997) Peer rejection sensitizes children to rejection Unpublished

data Columbia University New York


Bowlby J (1969) Attachment and loss Vol 1 Attachment New York Basic BooksBowlby J (1973) Attachment and loss Vol 2 Separation New York Basic BooksBowlby J (1980) Attachment and loss Vol 3 Loss sadness and depression New York

Basic BooksBrier N (1995) Predicting anti-social behavior in youngsters displaying poor academic

achievement A review of risk factors Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics16 271ndash276

Brook JS Nomura C amp Cohen P (1989) A network of inuences on adolescent druginvolvement Neighborhood school peer and family Genetic Social and GeneralPsychology Monographs 113 125ndash143

Brown GW (1993) The role of life events in the etiology of depressive and anxietydisorders In SC Stanford amp P Salmon (Eds) Stress From synapse to syndrome (pp23ndash50) London Academic Press

Browneld D amp Sorenson AM (1993) Self-control and juvenile delinquency Theoreticalissues and an empirical assessment of selected elements of a general theory of crimeDeviant Behavior 14 243ndash264

Cantor N amp Kihlstrom JF (1987) Personality and social intelligence Englewood CliffsNJ Erlbaum

Cicchetti D (1990) The organization and coherence of socioemotional cognitive andrepresentational development Illustrations through a developmental psychopathologyperspective on Down Syndrome and child maltreatment In RA Thompson (Ed)Socioemotional development Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (Vol 37 pp 259ndash366)Lincoln NE University of Nebraska Press

Cicchetti D Ganiban J amp Barnett D (1991) Contributions from the study of high-riskpopulations to understanding the development of emotional regulation In J Garber ampKA Dodge (Eds) The development of emotional regulation and dysregulation (pp 15ndash48)Cambridge UK Cambridge University Press

Cicchetti D amp Garmezy N (1993) Editorial Prospects and promises in the study ofresilience Development and Psychopathology 5 497ndash503

Cicchetti D Rogosch FA Lynch M amp Holt KD (1993) Resilience in maltreatedchildren Processes leading to adaptive outcome Development and Psychopathology 5629ndash648

Cicchetti D amp Schneider-Rosen K (1986) An organizational approach to childhooddepression In M Rutter C Izard amp PR Read (Eds) Depression in young peopleDevelopmental and clinical perspectives (pp 71ndash134) New York Guilford Press

Conrad M amp Hammen C (1993) Protective and resource factors in high- and low-riskchildren A comparison of children with unipolar bipolar medically ill and normalmothers Development and Psychopathology 5 593ndash608

Cowan EL amp Work WC (1988) Resilient children psychological wellness and primaryprevention American Journal of Community Psychology 16 591ndash607

Coyne JC amp Downey G (1991) Social factors and psychopathology Annual Review ofPsychology 42 401ndash425

Coyne JC amp Gottlieb BH (1996) The mismeasure of coping by checklist Journal ofPersonality 64 959ndash991

Crick NR amp Dodge KA (1996) Social information processing mechanisms on reactiveand proactive aggression Child Development 67 993ndash1002

Dodge KA (1986) A social information processing model of social competence in childrenCognitive perspectives on childrenrsquos social behavioral development Minnesota Symposiumon Child Psychology 18 77ndash125

Dodge KA amp Coie JD (1987) Social information factors in reactive and proactiveaggression in childrenrsquos play groups Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 531146ndash1158


Dodge KA Lochman JE Harnish JD Bates JE amp Pettit GS (1996) Reactive andproactive aggression in school children and psychiatrically impaired chronically assaultiveyouth Journal of Abnormal Psychology 106 37ndash51

Dodge KA Pettit GS amp Bates JE (1994) Socialization mediators of the relationbetween socioeconomic status and child conduct problems Child Development 65649ndash655

Downey G Feldman S Khouri J amp Friedman S (1994) Maltreatment and childhooddepression In WM Reynolds and HF Johnston (Eds) Handbook of depression inchildren and adolescents Issues in clinical child psychology (pp 481ndash508) New YorkPlenum

Downey G Khouri H amp Feldman S (1997) Early interpersonal trauma andinterpersonal adjustment The mediational role of rejection sensitivity RochesterSymposium on Developmental Psychopathology Vol VIII The effects of trauma on thedevelopmental process (pp 85ndash114)

Downey G amp Walker E (1989) Social cognition and adjustment in children at risk forpsychopathology Developmental Psychology 25 835ndash845

Dumas JE amp Wahler RG (1983) Predictors of treatment outcomes in parent trainingMother insularity and socioeconomic disadvantage Behavioral Assessment 5 301ndash313

Entwisle DR amp Astone NM (1994) Some practical guidelines for measuring youthrsquosraceethnicity and socioeconomic status Child Development 65 1521ndash1540

Egeland B Carlson E amp Sroufe AL (1993) Resilience as process Development andPsychopathology 5 517ndash528

Fagan J (1993) Drug selling and licit income in distressed neighborhoods The economiclives of street-level drug users and dealers In G Patterson amp A Harold Washington (Eds)Drugs crime and social isolation (pp 99ndash146) Washington DC Urban InstitutePress

Farrington DP (1978) The family backgrounds of aggressive youths In L Hersov MBerger amp D Shaffer (Eds) Aggression and anti-social behavior in childhood andadolescence(pp 73ndash93) Oxford UK Pergamon

Farrington DP (1995) The development of offending and antisocial behavior fromchildhood Key ndings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development Journal ofChild Psychology and Psychiatry 360 929ndash964

Feldman S amp Downey G (1994) Rejection sensitivity as a mediator of the impact of childexposure to family violence on adult attachment behavior Development andPsychopathology 6 231ndash247

Fergusson DM amp Lynskey MT (1996) Adolescent resilience to family adversity Journalof Child Psychology and Psychiatry 37 281ndash292

Garmezy N (1990) A closing note Reections on the future In J Rolf A Masten DCicchetti K Nuechterlein amp S Weintraub (Eds) Risk and protective factors inpsychopathology (pp 527ndash534) New York Cambridge University Press

Garmezy N (1991) Resilience and vulnerability to adverse developmental outcomesassociated with poverty American Behavioral Scientist 34 416ndash430

Garmezy N Masten AS amp Tellegen A (1984) The study of stress and competence inchildren A building block of developmental psychopathology Child Development 5597ndash111

Gottfredson M amp Hirschi I (1990) A general theory of crime Stanford CA StanfordUniversity Press

Gouldner H (1978) Teacherrsquos pets trouble-makers and nobodies Black children inelementary school Westport CT Greenwood

Grotpeter JK amp Crick NR (1996) Relational aggression overt aggression andfriendship Child Development 67 2328ndash2338


Hauser RM (1994) Measuring socioeconomic status in studies of child development ChildDevelopment 65 1541ndash1545

Hartshorne H amp May A (1928) Studies in the nature of character Vol 1 Studies in deceitNew York MacMillan

Herronkohl EC Herronkohl RC amp Egolf BP (1994) Resilient early school-agechildren from maltreating homes Outcomes in late adolescence American Journal ofOrthopsychiatry 64 301ndash309

Herzberger SD amp Hall JA (1993) Consequences of retaliatory aggression againstsiblings and peers Urban minority childrenrsquos expectations Child Development 641773ndash1785

Higgins ET amp Bargh JA (1987) Social cognition and social perceptions Annual Reviewof Psychology 38 369ndash425

Hinshaw SP (1992) Externalizing behavior problems and academic underachievement inchildhood and adolescence Causal relationships and underlying mechanismsPsychological Bulletin 11 127ndash155

Hirschi T amp Hindelang MJ (1977) Intelligence and delinquency A revisionist reviewAmerican Sociological Review 42 571ndash587

Hollingshead W (1979) The Hollingshead four-factor index of socioeconomic statusUnpublished manuscript Yale University CT

Huston AC McLoyd VC amp Garcia Coll C (1994) Children and poverty Issues incontemporary research Child Development 65 275ndash282

Kelly GA (1955) The psychology of personal constructs (Vols 1 and 2) New YorkNorton

Larson GE Saccuzzo DP amp Brown J (1994) Motivation Cause or confound ininformation processingintelligence correlations Acta Psychologica 85 25ndash37

Loewenstein G (1992) The fall and rise of psychological explanations in the economics ofinterpersonal choice In G Loewenstein amp J Elster (Eds) Choice over time (pp 3ndash34) NewYork Russel Sage Foundation

Luthar SS (1991) Vulnerability and resilience A study of high-risk adolescents ChildDevelopment 62 600ndash616

Luthar SS (1993) Methodological and conceptual issues in research on childhoodresilience Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 34 441ndash453

Luthar SS Doernberger CH amp Zigler E (1993) Resilience is not a unidirectionalconstruct Insights from a prospective study of inner-city adolescents Development andPsychopathology 4 703ndash718

Lynam D Moftt TE amp Stouthamer-Loeber M (1993) Explaining the relation betweenIQ and delinquency class race test motivation or self-control Journal of AbnormalPsychology 102 187ndash196

Masten AS Garmezy N Tellegen A Pelligrini DS Larkin K amp Larsen A (1988)Competence and stress in school children The moderating effects of individual and familyqualities Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 29 745ndash764

McLoyd V (1990) The impact of economic hardship on black families and childrenPsychological distress parenting and socioemotional development Child Development 61311ndash346

Mendoza-Denton R amp Freitas AL (1997) Delay of gratication buffers against aggressionby rejection-sensitive adolescents Paper presented the American Psychological Association105th Annual Convention

Mischel W (1961) Father absence and delay of gratication Cross-cultural comparisonsJournal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 63 116ndash124

Mischel W (1968) Personality and assessment New York WileyMischel W (1973) Toward a cognitive social learning reconceptualization of personality

Psychological Review 80 252ndash283


Mischel W Cantor N amp Feldman S (1996) Principles of self-regulation The nature ofwillpower and self-control In ET Higgins amp AW Kruglanski (Eds) Social psychologyHandbook of basic principles New York Guilford Press

Mischel W amp Peake PK (1982) Beyond deja vu in the search for cross-situationalconsistency Psychological Review 89 730ndash755

Mischel W amp Shoda Y (1995) A cognitive-affective system theory of personalityReconceptualizing situations dispositions dynamics amp invariance in personality structurePsychological Review 102 246ndash268

Mischel W amp Shoda Y (in press) Reconciling personality dynamics and processingdispositions Annual Review of Psychology 49

Mischel W Shoda Y amp Rodriguez M (1989) Delay of gratication in children Science244 933ndash938

Moftt TE (1993a) Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior Adevelopmental taxonomy Psychological Review 100 674ndash701

Moftt TE (1993b) The neuropsychology of conduct disorder Development andPsychology 5 135ndash152

Moftt TE Gabrieli WF Mednick SA amp Schulsinger F (1981) Socioeconomic statusIQ and delinquency Journal of Abnormal Psychology 90 152ndash156

Offord DR Alder RJ amp Boyle MH (1986) Prevalence and sociodemographiccorrelates of conduct disorder American Journal of Social Psychiatry 28 272ndash278

Patterson CJ Kupersmidt JB amp Vaden NA (1990) Income level gender ethnicity andhousehold composition as predictors of childrenrsquos school-based competencies ChildDevelopment 61 485ndash494

Peterson DR (1968) The clinical study of social behavior New York Appleton-Century-Crofts

Pfefferbaum B amp Wood PB (1994) Self-Reports of impulsive and delinquent behavior incollege students Journal of Adolescent Health 15 295ndash305

Rachlin H (1995) Self-control Beyond commitment Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18109ndash159

Radke-Yarrow M amp Brown E (1993) Resilience and vulnerability in children ofmultiple-risk families Development and Psychopathology 5 581ndash592

Radke-Yarrow M amp Sherman T (1990) Hard growing Children who survive In J RolfA Masten D Cicchetti K Nuechterlein amp S Weintraub (Eds) Risk and protective factorsin psychopathology (pp 97ndash 119) New York Cambridge University Press

Radke-Yarrow M Zahn-Waxler C Richardson DT Susman A amp Martinez P (1994)Caring behavior in children of clinically depressed and well mothers Child Development56 884ndash893

Rodriguez ML Mischel W amp Shoda Y (1989) Cognitive person variables in the delay ofgratication of older children at risk Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 5757ndash75

Rodriguez ML Shoda Y amp Mischel W (1998) Self-regulatory competencies and socialadaptation in boys at risk Manuscript submitted for publication

Rotter J (1954) Social learning and clinical psychology Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall

Rutter M (1981) The city and the child American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 51 610ndash625Rutter M (1987) Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms American Journal of

Orthopsychiatry 57 316ndash331Shapiro D (1981) Youth employment and patterns in job turnover In M Borus (Ed)

Pathways to the future A report on the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth LaborMarket Experience (Vol 1 pp 173ndash222) Columbus OH Ohio State University Center forHuman Resource Research


Shaw CR (19301966) The jack-roller A delinquent boyrsquos own story Chicago ILUniversity of Chicago Press

Shoda Y Mischel W amp Wright JC (1993) The role of situational demands and cognitivecompetencies in behavior organization and personality coherence Journal of Personalityand Social Psychology 65 1023ndash1035

Snyder JJ amp Patterson GR (1995) Individual differences in social aggression A test ofthe reinforcement model of socialization in the natural environment Behavioral Therapy26 371ndash391

Sroufe LA (1979) The coherence of individual development Early care attachment andsubsequent developmental issues American Psychologist 34 834ndash841

Stattin H amp Klackenberg-Larsson I (1993) Early language and intelligence developmentand their relationship to future criminal behavior Journal of Abnormal Psychology 102369ndash378

Thompson RA amp Calkins SD (1996) The double-edged sword Emotional regulation forchildren at risk Development and Psychopathology 8 163ndash182

Tremblay RE Boulerice B Arseneault L amp Niscale MJ (1995) Does low self-controlduring childhood help explain the association between delinquency and accidents in earlyadolescence Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health 5 439ndash451

Werner EE (1995) Resilience in development Current Directions in PsychologicalScience 4 81ndash85

Werner EE amp Smith RS (1989) Vulnerable but invincible A longitudinal study ofresilient children and youth New York Adams-Banaster-Cox

Werner EE amp Smith RS (1992) Overcoming the odds High-risk children from birth toadulthood Ithaca NY Cornell University Press

Wilson WJ (1987) The truly disadvantaged The inner city the underclass and public policyChicago IL University of Chicago Press

Wilson WJ (1995) Jobless ghettos and the social outcomes of youngsters In P Moen GElder amp K Luscher (Eds) Examining lives in context perspectives on the ecology of humandevelopment(pp 527ndash543) Washington DC American Psychological Association

Wright JC amp Mischel W (1987) A conditional approach to dispositional constructs Thelocal predictability of social behavior Journal of Personality amp Social Psychology 531159ndash1177

Wyman PA Cowen EL Work WC amp Kerley JH (1993) The role of childrenrsquos futureexpectations in self-system functioning and adjustment to life stress A prospective study ofurban at-risk children Development and Psychopathology 5 649ndash661

Zeidner M (1995) Personality trait correlates of intelligence In DH Saklofske amp MZeidner (Eds) International handbook on personality and intelligence Perspectives onindividual differences

Zimmerman MA amp Arunkumar R (1994) Resiliency research Implications for schoolsand policy Social Policy Report Society For Research in Child Development 8 3ndash17


teenager Clayton had no criminal record was in the honoursrsquo programme atschool and had plans to go to college Rudy Claytonrsquos downstairs neighbourhappened to earn a similarly high verbal IQ score at age 6 In junior highschool however Rudy did well in some classes but poorly in others He beganskipping school At age 13 he was caught writing grafti on a subway car Byage 16 Rudy had dropped out of school and was arrested for selling drugs

Because they grew up in a socially disadvantaged environment Clayton andRudy faced heightened risk of negative developmental outcomes such asconduct problems (Dumas amp Wahler 1983 Farrington 1978 Offord Alderamp Boyle 1986 Patterson Kupersmidt amp Vaden 1990 Rutter 1981)Socioeconomic disadvantage has been shown to exert its inuence onconduct problem aetiology through such proximal contextual mediators asparental discipline motherrsquos social support cognitive stimulation andexposure to violence (Dodge Pettit amp Bates 1994) Explaining whyindividuals such as Clayton manage to achieve positive outcomes in spite ofsuch adversity can potentially inform intervention efforts designed to fosteradaptive coping and thus has been the focus of considerable research (egCicchetti amp Garmezy 1993 Garmezy 1990 Radke-Yarrow amp Brown 1993Rutter 1987 Werner amp Smith 1989)

An appropriate rst step in such research is to delineate the characteristicsof individuals who have managed to achieve adaptive outcomes in the face ofstress Noting for example Claytonrsquos high IQ one could posit that Claytonrsquoscognitive abilities helped him navigate his tough environment Thusidentifying personal or social characteristics as ldquoprotectiverdquo factors inrelation to maladaptive outcomes has been a major focus of resiliencyresearch Using 30-year longitudinal data from a multi-ethnic cohort forexample Werner and Smith (1989 1992) identied several characteristicsdistinguishing low socioeconomic status (SES) youth who functioned wellfrom those who did not Radke-Yarrow and Sherman (1990) employing acase study method to examine children at risk for developingpsychopathology due to a parentrsquos affective illness also identied severalcharacteristics unique to children able to achieve adaptive outcomes

Studies such as these and many others (eg Conrad amp Hammen 1993Fergusson amp Lynskey 1996 Wyman Cowan Work amp Kerley 1993) haveidentied a set of characteristicsmdashboth personal (ie high intelligence socialskills physical attractiveness) and environmental (ie having a responsiblecaregiver)mdashthat appear to protect children from some of the ill effects oftheir dangerous environments These protective characteristics arehypothesised to exert their benecial inuences in either of two ways First aprotective factor can have an equally benecial effect across individualsirrespective of each individualrsquos risk status (eg Garmezy Masten ampTellegen 1984 Masten et al 1988) This type of effect is indicated by a









The CAPS Model















Expectancies






Values and Goals
















IQ AND DELINQUENCY



























FUTURE DIRECTIONS









CONCLUSION
























































































































The CAPS Model















Expectancies






Values and Goals
















IQ AND DELINQUENCY



























FUTURE DIRECTIONS









CONCLUSION




























































































































Expectancies






Values and Goals
















IQ AND DELINQUENCY



























FUTURE DIRECTIONS









CONCLUSION



















































































































Values and Goals
















IQ AND DELINQUENCY



























FUTURE DIRECTIONS









CONCLUSION






























































































































IQ AND DELINQUENCY



























FUTURE DIRECTIONS









CONCLUSION







































































































































FUTURE DIRECTIONS









CONCLUSION























































































































CONCLUSION
















































































































resilience: a dynamic...

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