title: Adolescent resiliency to family adversity.
abstract: The factors associated with adolescent resiliency to childhood adversity were examined in a birth cohort of 940 New Zealand adolescents studied to the age of 16 years. Resilient teenagers were defined by: (a) high exposure to family adversity during childhood and (b) an absence of a wide range of externalising problems during adolescence including substance abuse, juvenile offending and school problems. Resilient teenagers were characterised by significantly higher IQ (p < .001), lower novelty seeking (p < .01) and lower affiliations with delinquent peers (p < .005) with these factors acting accumulatively to influence the probability of resilience to externalising problems.
authors.affiliation: Christchurch Health and Development Study, Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Fergusson
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Lynskey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010290:Parents; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent