ED344979 UD028669
Title: Overcoming the Odds: High Risk Children from Birth to Adulthood.
Author(s): Werner, Emmy E.; Smith, Ruth S.
Pages: 289
Publication Date: 1992
ISBN: 0-8014-8018-3
Available from: Document Not Available from EDRS.
Availability: Cornell University Press, 124 Roberts Place, Ithaca,
NY 14850 (paperback, ISBN-0-8014-8018-3; hardback, ISBN-0-8014-2584-0).
Language: English
Document Type: Book (010); Reports--Descriptive (141); Test/questionnaires
(160)
Geographic Source: U.S.; New York
Journal Announcement: RIESEP1992
The lives
of 505 individuals born in 1955 on the island of Kauai (Hawaii)
were followed from the prenatal period to adulthood to elucidate
their resilience in the face of childhood adversity or their recovery
in later years. The Kauai Longitudinal Study monitored the impact
of a variety of biological and psychosocial risk factors, stressful
life events, and protective factors on the development of these
individuals from a mixture of ethnic groups (primarily Japanese,
Hawaiian, and Pilipino). One of every three members of this cohort
was born with the odds against successful development. Nevertheless,
one of every three of these high risk children had developed into
a confident, capable, and caring young adult by age 18. This book,
the fourth about this cohort, examines members at 30 years of age,
with emphasis on work life, marriage, and parenthood. Attention
is paid to outcomes for teenage mothers, juvenile delinquents, and
children with mental health problems as they mature. A common core
of individual differences and sources of support is beginning to
emerge that ameliorates or buffers a person's responses to constitutional
risk factors or stressful life events. Several case histories and
vignettes illustrate the struggles of cohort members. Twenty-eight
tables in two appendices and nine figures supplement the discussion.
Included are 142 references. (SLD)
Descriptors: *Achievement; *At Risk Persons; Case Studies; Cohort
Analysis; Delinquency; *Disadvantaged Youth; Early Parenthood; *Economically
Disadvantaged; Ethnic Groups; *Individual Development; Individual
Differences; *Life Events; Longitudinal Studies; Mental Disorders;
Resistance (Psychology)
Identifiers: *Hawaii (Kauai); Vulnerability
