Title: Resilience strengths and processes in families with adolescent children: A contribution from the nurse specialist
Adolescence brings along new challenges, with effects on the families daily lives, which change their dynamics and lead to constant challenges and consequent adjustments in interfamily relationships. The aim of this study is to analyze the characteristics of parents and adolescents that are related to the strengths and processes of resilience in families with adolescent children. This is a quantitative, descriptive and correlational study whose data collection was carried out online through the application of a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Family Strengths Questionnaire (Melo & Alarcão, 2011) and the Communication Assessment Scale in Parenting (COMPA- P) (Portugal & Alberto, 2014). The sample consists of parents with teenage children between 14 and 17 years old. It suggested that family sociodemographic variables were not associated with family resilience processes. Regarding parental communication, there was a positive and significant relationship between its dimensions and the dimensions of the Family Strengths questionnaire. As for the characteristics of the adolescent, it was concluded that the health status was positively associated with family resilience processes. The regression model demonstrates that the adolescent’s health status, as well as the dimensions of meta-communication and trust/sharing of parents towards their children, are explanatory factors of the strengths and processes of family resilience. If nurses know the resilience forces and processes of families, they will be able to more easily develop adapted and appropriate responses to each family in order to promote family resilience, as it has a strong effect on the health and well-being of family members and on the family itself as a system.
Carla Isabel Quadrado Sanches works at Higher School of Health of the Polytechnic Institute of Guarda in Portugal.