Pathways to Resilience: A 19 year Follow-Up of Pinellas Youth
Ellis Gesten, Psychology. Linda Rafaelle-Mendez, Education, Karen Perrin, College of Public Health, and the Pinellas County School District.
Description:
This study will identify child/adolescent, family and school contributions to resilience across two decades. The overarching purpose is to find protective factors in students' lives, which allow them to overcome early risk or adversity, and achieve average to outstanding academic, social and personal success against the odds. Once identified, these factors represent potential intervention targets, and critical components of effective large scale preventive interventions.
The participants in this study are “graduates” or current participants of the Omnibus Project, which began in the Pinellas County School system in 1989. This unique, school based longitudinal study traced the entering class of 8500 through June of 2002, their scheduled graduation date. Currently the district is attempting to determine how many students graduated on time and to locate those remaining in the district. Using archival data collected annual from students, teachers, school records and/or parents, we will select subgroups of students for follow up who in elementary school appeared from the composite risk indices to be at the greatest risk for later academic and/or adjustment related problems or failure. A structured interview format will be used to identify characteristics of youth and their environment which distinguish between those who succeeded and didn't.
Contact Person: Linda M. Raffaele Mendez
Funding for Academic Year: 2003-04