Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

The present study will use an ecological framework to conduct an examination of factors that allay the risk for child maltreatment. The goal of the present study is to identify predictors of resilience in a sample of adolescent mothers who are considered at high-risk for child abuse based on three enduring vulnerability conditions: a) maternal age at childbirth (i.e. less than 20 years of age), b) a history of abuse or trauma, and c) socioeconomic status (i.e. income below the poverty line). Insight into factors that differentiate adolescent mothers who are high versus low risk for abuse, and an understanding of predictors of resilience among this vulnerable population may aid in the promotion of healthy adaptation in spite of significant adversity. In addition, an understanding of the relationship between various forces at play at different ecological levels (i.e. individual, familial, community, societal, and cultural forces), has the potential to provide clinical insight, and be useful to the development of tools to prevent child abuse and neglect, as well as to the improvement of existing treatments for maltreating families.