Resilience among urban African American male adolescents: A study of the protective effects of sociopolitical control on their mental health

Resilience refers to the notion that some people succeed in the face of adv ersity. In a risk-protective model of resilience, a protective factor inter acts with a risk factor to mitigate the occurrence of a negative outcome. T his study tested longitudinally the protective effects of sociopolitical co ntrol on the link between helplessness and mental health. The study include d 172 urban, male, African American adolescents, who were interviewed twice , 6 months apart. Sociopolitical control was defined as the beliefs about o ne's capabilities and efficacy in social and political systems. Two mental health outcomes were examined-psychological symptoms and self-esteem. Regre ssion analyses to predict psychological symptoms and self-esteem over time were conducted. High levels of sociopolitical control were found to limit t he negative consequences of helpless,less on mental health. The results sug gest that sociopolitical control may help to protect youths from the negati ve consequences of feelings of helplessness. Implications for prevention st rategies are discussed.