The Model of Family Resilience is an outgrowth of the significant ideological changes in early intervention services mandated by Public Law 99-457, which emphasizes a family-centered and competency-based approach to families of handicapped children. The model hypothesizes two dimensions related to family resilience: capability and vulnerability, composed of five protective or risk factors, respectively. The goals of the project are: (1) to validate the existing taxonomy of family resilience by closely examining the interview responses from 2S questionnaires; (2) to evaluate the reliability and validity of The Family-Centered Interview and the Family Assessment Interviewer's Rating, developed by us: and (3) to pilot test the theoretical model of family resilience by exploring differences in family resilience among families that vary on the number and extent of protective and risk factors. This pilot research project will provide a basis for further development and extensive studies of the model using a larger and more diverse sample in Phase II, in which the latent variables related to family resilience will be more precisely identified.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research:As mandated by PL 99-4S7, families of the 360,000 children under 36 months of age, at-risk for developmental delay, will be involved in the development of an Individualized Family Services Plans (IFSPs). An equal number of 3 to 6 year old children must have preschool Individual Educational Plans (IEP) which also consider family factors. This federal mandate requires "family assessment" and creates great demand for a tool that evaluates Family Risk and Protective Factors in order to determine Family Resilience, prior to program planning. Once validated, The Family-Centered Interview will also be applicable to a multitude of other family service settings.National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
