Released May 14, 2007

URBANA, Ill. - Teens whose parents face severe economic problems bring their families' problems to school with them. And, in many cases, risky behaviors are the result. A research team led by Rand Conger reported these findings in an 18-year study of Iowa teens whose families were affected by the Farm Crisis of the 1980s.

"Some teachers responded by probing gently to find out what was going on at home, giving the anxious teens support, and making school a safe place where they could try to make sense of what was happening to their families," said Rand Conger at the 2007 lecture of The Pampered Chef Family Resiliency Program at the University of Illinois.

"Other teachers responded to their students? distress by saying: This isn't your problem. Your job is to study and keep up with your responsibilities at school," he added.

School support made a huge difference in the lives of the first group of teens, said Conger, a distinguished professor of human and community development at the University of California, Davis. When teens had teachers who simply wanted to conduct business as usual, the students didn't fare as well, he said.

Conger was well placed to study the factors that led to resiliency in the lives of these young people. His landmark study of 558 rural Iowa adolescents, which began during the economic downturn, is now in its 18th year and has followed the lives of these teens from mid-adolescence to adulthood.

He has developed a profile of an "adaptive adolescent," a teen whose characteristics include high impulse control, conventional beliefs about right and wrong, and high problem-solving abilities. Such a teen is also likely to enjoy school and to work well with others.

Conger has also identified the social resources that contribute to resiliency in youth. They include good schools, financial and social stability, available and supportive friends, and warm, supportive families that are low in conflict. His observations have made Conger a believer in prevention education programs and therapeutic interventions to assist at-risk adolescents. "We can modify environments and change outcomes," he said.

"Interestingly, because this study has spanned 18 years, we've been able to make some observations about successful transitions from the teen years to adulthood," he said.

The researcher said that one important marker of a successful adulthood is a stable and supportive romantic relationship. "The ability to develop a satisfying relationship at age 19 or 20 was strongly connected to the ability to form a happy intimate relationship at 29 or 30," he said.

Conger described a successful romantic relationship as being "calming and soothing; committed; high in warmth, support, and appreciation; and low in conflict, hostility, and contempt."

Relationships that have these characteristics are "an important element in the success of the next generation of children," he said.

He noted that adults tend to raise their children as they were raised. "However, good parenting can be learned. People who grew up in hostile environments can be influenced, for example, by the nurturing parenting behaviors they see in their partners," he said.

"Although adolescence is a time of risk, adulthood is usually a time of recovery," he added. "Resilience depends on both the individual teen's adaptability and the social support that is available. We can influence both by targeting interventions to particular teens and by promoting social resources and preventive education programs for adolescents."

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http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news4006.html

Contacts: Laurie Kramer, (217) 333-0628, lfkramer@uiuc.edu

Phyllis Picklesimer, (217) 244-2827, p-pickle@uiuc.edu