Watt N F, David J P, Ladd K L, Shamos S
University of Denver, Frontier Hall 140, 80208, Denver, CO.
J Prim Prev. 1995 Mar;15(3):209-46. doi: 10.1007/BF02197473.
Notably lacking in the promising new literature on psychological resilience are longitudinal studies of adults who have not only survived extreme early life stresses, but have actually thrived in the face of them. The present study compared 31 resilient adults who were middle-aged, upper-middle class and well educated with 19 controls from comparable life circumstances who had not been exposed to severe early adversity. The experimental group reported exceedingly high scores for early life stress, with emotional abuse by parents being the most pervasive compliant. They felt and showed extreme signs of emotional oppression as children, but normal (or even superior) intellectual development. The majority sought and received substantial support outside the family, including religious counseling and formal psychotherapy, but healing was tediously slow and probably not entirely complete. Most attributed their success to relentless effort and self-reliance, but the groups did not differ significantly on psychological measures of internal locus of control. "Transcenders" appeared remarkably normal as adults, showing significant improvement in interpersonal relations. Their self-descriptions of exceptional fortitude may have been slightly exaggerated but probably contributed to their growing self-esteem. There was only limited support for the hypothesis that resilient people become scrupulously appropriate in their own parenting attitudes and behavior. Their enthusiasm to promote disclosure about their stressful early lives, and about the possibilities for successful outcome seemed to fulfill altruistic needs to counter the popular myth that extreme adversity in early life inexorably leads to adult patholog, and also provided some validation for themselvesas people.
值得注意的是，在关于心理韧性的充满希望的新文献中，缺乏对那些不仅在早年经历了极端压力且存活下来，而且在面对这些压力时茁壮成长的成年人的纵向研究。本研究将31名具有韧性的中年、中上层阶级且受过良好教育的成年人与19名来自类似生活环境但未经历过严重早期逆境的对照组进行了比较。实验组报告称早年压力得分极高，其中父母的情感虐待是最普遍的问题。他们在童年时感到并表现出极端的情感压迫迹象，但智力发展正常（甚至超常）。大多数人在家庭之外寻求并获得了大量支持，包括宗教咨询和正规心理治疗，但康复过程缓慢且可能并不完全彻底。大多数人将自己的成功归因于不懈努力和自力更生，但两组在心理控制源的测量上没有显著差异。“超越者”成年后表现得非常正常，人际关系有显著改善。他们对非凡坚韧的自我描述可能略有夸大，但可能有助于他们不断增强的自尊。对于韧性强的人在自己的育儿态度和行为上会变得极其恰当这一假设，仅有有限的支持。他们热衷于分享自己充满压力的早年生活以及成功的可能性，这似乎满足了利他需求，以反驳早年极端逆境必然导致成年后出现心理问题的普遍误解，同时也为他们自己作为个体提供了一些认可。
