Research area: Population Health > Intergenerational Health  | Status: Active

Children running in the grass

Development of a measure of child resilience for children aged five to 12 years, with parent, child and school reports.

Our study is a five-year study to develop a better understanding of how this happens and how children grow up to be strong and resilient.

There is much evidence to show that trauma and stress impact children’s health and wellbeing and can have enduring consequences throughout their lives. It is also clear that some children do very well despite having these challenges.

We are developing a measure of child resilience, the Child Resilience Questionnaire.

 

Our study is a five-year study to develop a better understanding of how this happens and how children grow up to be strong and resilient.

There is much evidence to show that trauma and stress impact children’s health and wellbeing and can have...

Our study is a five-year study to develop a better understanding of how this happens and how children grow up to be strong and resilient.

There is much evidence to show that trauma and stress impact children’s health and wellbeing and can have enduring consequences throughout their lives. It is also clear that some children do very well despite having these challenges.

We are developing a measure of child resilience, the Child Resilience Questionnaire.

 

Why we are doing this study?

Children are not born resilient. Resilience is the process by which children use their internal and external resources to navigate challenges or difficult things that happen to them. Strengths and adversity can exist within the child, in their relationships and social worlds.

Child Resilience Questionnaire

We have developed the Child Resilience Questionnaire. This is a measure that highlights a child’s strengths and vulnerabilities at a personal, family, school, peer and community level. We can celebrate their strengths and use them to improve and build up areas of vulnerability so that children can grow and achieve their potential across their lives.

We co-designed the measure with Aboriginal and refugee background communities and recruited families from diverse backgrounds to the study so that the Child Resilience Questionnaire is relevant and inclusive of all children in our communities.

We are now examining Child Resilience Questionnaire data from over 1,000 parents, children and schools to explore child resilience and mental health in different contexts and experiences, including Aboriginal families, refugee background families and children exposed to family violence.

More information

Our research team

Dr Deirdre Gartland
Lead Researcher/Team Leader/Research Fellow
Intergenerational Health

Collaborators

Thanks to our key partners, funders, and supporters.

Study partners

  • Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia Inc.
  • Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture
  • Pangula Mannamurna Inc.
  • Wadja Aboriginal Family Place, Royal Children’s Hospital
  • South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute

Funding

  • National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
  • Myer Family Foundation
  • Murdoch Children's Research Institute

Feature publications

Development of a multidimensional culturally and socially inclusive measure of factors that support resilience: Child Resilience Questionnaire-Child report (CRQ-C)—a community-based participatory research and psychometric testing study in Australia. Gartland, D., et al., BMJ Open, 2022. 12(9): p. e060229.

Development and validation of a multidimensional, culturally and socially inclusive Child Resilience Questionnaire (parent/caregiver report) to measure factors that support resilience: a community-based participatory research and psychometric testing study in Australia. Gartland, D., et al., BMJ Open, 2022. 12(6): p. e061129.

What factors are associated with resilient outcomes in children exposed to social adversity? A systematic review. Gartland, D., et al., BMJ Open, 2019. 9(4): p. e024870.

Using Participatory Methods to Engage Diverse Families in Research about Resilience in Middle Childhood. Gartland, D., Riggs, E., Giallo, R., Glover, K., Casey, S., Muyeen, S., Weetra, D., White, S., Koolmatrie, T., & Brown, S. J. (2021). Journal of Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved, Nov 1844-1871.

Contact us

Intergenerational Health Research Group
Murdoch Children's Research Institute
The Royal Children's Hospital
50 Flemington Road
Parkville VIC 3052
Australia

Dr Deirdre Gartland
Team Leader/Research Fellow
Intergenerational Health

Phone: show phone number
Email:

child in hospital

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