Adversity and psychosocial competence of South African children

Am J Orthopsychiatry. 1999 Jul;69(3):319-27. doi: 10.1037/h0080406.

Abstract

Black children in South Africa commonly experience low socioeconomic status and community violence. Parents (N = 625) in a longitudinal study of urbanization responded to structured questionnaires related to resilience, affability, maturity, and school readiness of their six-year olds. SES was found to have an inverse and linear relation to competence at age six; the relationship to violence was curvilinear, with children from moderately safe communities achieving better outcomes than those from very safe or very unsafe ones.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Achievement*
  • Adaptation, Psychological*
  • Black People
  • Black or African American / psychology*
  • Child
  • Child Behavior / psychology*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Life Change Events*
  • Male
  • Mental Competency / psychology*
  • Mental Disorders / psychology
  • Social Adjustment*
  • Social Class
  • South Africa
  • Surveys and Questionnaires