Resilience, gender and family during adolescence

This article seeks to investigate the family factors that influence the resilience potential of male and female adolescent students. It is a cross-sectional study with data derived from an epidemiological survey with the participation of 889 randomly selected adolescents in the 9th year of public and private schools in a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Social and demographic variables indicate that family violence factors such as a difficult relationship with the mother or stepmother and a lack of family supervision, the presence of depression and low use of active and supportive coping strategies for distraction are associated with a low resilience potential. Tests of association between variables and resilience were made, considering a significance level of 5%. Variables like living in a confined space and having a difficult relationship with siblings only appear harmful to the resilience potential of girls. Public policies and programs need to work with families to understand the needs of adolescents, as a way of preventing mental health problems and promoting health in this population from a gender standpoint.