| Over the past decade, the concepts of relational and family resilience have emerged as topics of interest in family science. Individual, family, and community level determinants of family resilience have received increased amount of attention in family resilience research particularly among low-income minority families. Correlates of poverty among minority families that have been noted in the literature are that of substance abuse and lower levels of mental health. The primary aim of this study was to operationalize the concept of family resilience and develop an empirically-based model of family resilience. The secondary aim, as it relates to the epidemics of lowered health and substance abuse, was to develop this model with an emphasis on predicting behavioral health outcomes. Guided by an integrated Family Resilience Framework, Family Ecology, and Multicultural Feminist theory, the interdependent relationships between community, family, and individual resilience were examined among 380 low-income families living in public housing. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine a model in which factors that promote community resilience, family resilience, and individual resilience were expected to predict risks associated with substance abuse through their association with mental and physical health. This conceptual model was supported by the data, and produced significant pathways predicting the variation of mental health, physical health, and substance abuse patterns in the sample. Implications for the findings for research, practice, and social policy are discussed. |
