Individual Characteristics Associated with Resilience in Single-Parent Families

Abstract

This study identified individual characteristics as a resource to enhance the resilience of a family dealing with the loss of a parent. 25 white single-parent families who had lost a parent between 1 and 4 yr. previously were identified by four postgraduate students in the Western Cape, South Africa. Each single-parent, 19 women and 6 men ( M age = 48 yr., SD = 7.65), were asked to state the personal qualities which helped the family adapt after the loss, after the Family Attachment and Changeability Index 8 and the Ego-resiliency Scale were completed. The expected positive relationship between personal resilience and family functioning could not be confirmed. However, the qualitative results indicate that optimism, perseverance, faith, expression of emotions, and self-confidence were prominent individual characteristics of resilience viewed as resources in promoting resilience in these single-parent families.