Financial crisis and psychological resilience in families with young children

Abstract

This study examined factors that help families with young children to adapt when faced with adversities, thus engendering family resilience in the process. The study aimed to explore and describe the coping mechanisms of working parents with young children in the face of a financial crisis. The Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation, the Family Resilience Framework, the Family Life Cycle and Social Constructionism theories complement each other, and were integrated in this study in an attempt to understand the plight of families facing adversities, and how these families can achieve balance and cultivate resilience. A qualitative single case study methodology was employed. A total of 12 families, including the father and the mother participated in the qualitative structured interviews and a biographical questionnaire. The interview questions were structured to measure family adaptation and key processes of family functioning in accordance with the Family Resilience Framework. Three families further participated in participant observation research because they had celebrations in their families. The researcher was able to observe factors that foster resilience in families. The data collected was subjected to thematic analysis; and categories, sub-themes and themes were established, with reference to the Family Resilience Framework, in order to identify factors that foster family resilience and help families adapt. The results of the interviews and observations revealed that family adaptation was fostered by the family’s internal and external strengths, good communication, organisational patterns, as well as spirituality and the belief systems of the family. The researcher developed a guideline that could be used to develop interventions that promote family resilience and establish the basis for family members to cope with adversities, especially in a multi-cultural country such as South Africa.