PROTECTIVE AND RESOURCE FACTORS IN HIGH-RISK AND LOW-RISK CHILDREN - A COMPARISON OF CHILDREN WITH UNIPOLAR, BIPOLAR, MEDICALLY ILL, AND NORMAL MOTHERS

This study distinguished between factors that were protective for chil dren at high risk and those that were resources for children regardles s of risk level and determined the generality of these factors across three different risk definitions: school-age children of mothers with (a) unipolar depression (n = 22), (b) bipolar disorder(n = 18), and (c ) medical illness(n = 18), each compared to a low-risk control group(n = 38). Results were verified at a 1-year follow-up. Positive self-con cept, academic success, social competence, and positive perceptions of the mothers were resource factors associated with lower diagnostic ra tings for children in all risk groups. Maternal social competence and having a healthy father in the home were resource factors for maternal unipolar risk but, unexpectedly, were vulnerability factors for mater nal bipolar risk. Children's friendships were protective for children of medically ill mothers; however, frequent contact with an adult frie nd was a risk factor for unipolar offspring. The latter finding sugges ts that such contact might be a consequence of poor parent-child relat ionships. Findings are discussed in terms of possible interventions fo r children at risk, and suggestions for additional research are offere d.