Protective Factors and the Development of Resilience in the Context of Neighborhood Disadvantage

The purpose of the present study was to examine relations among multiple child and family protective factors, neighborhood disadvantage, and positive social adjustment in a sample of 226 urban, low SES boys followed from infancy to early adolescence. The results indicated that child IQ, nurturant parenting, and parent–child relationship quality, measured in early childhood, were all significantly associated with a composite measure tapping low levels of antisocial behavior and high levels of social skills at ages 11 and 12. Parental romantic partner relationship quality (RPRQ) was only significantly related to positive social adjustment in the context of low levels of neighborhood disadvantage. Results suggest that with the exception of RPRQ, these protective factors operate in a comparable manner with respect to positive social adjustment for this predominantly low-income urban sample of boys.