Download the IRP 2006 Main Report.
Download the IRP 2006 Main Report.
Each site includes a small advisory committee of two to three local individuals who can help to identify appropriate ways to access youth, help to define the construct of resilience, and oversee the ethical application of the research in their community. These individuals are also influential in their community of service providers and act as aids for dissemination of results to practitioners and policy makers.
There are 14 original research sites participating in the study. Each research site was selected for the diversity it brought to understanding children and youth in high-risk environments.
In addition to the development of the CYRM, the team identified 7 tensions (access to material resources, relationships, identity, power and control, cultural adherence, social justice and cohesion).
All participating youth were asked to complete a questionnaire, the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM). Some were also asked to participate in an one-on-one interview where they could talk about their lives. Adults were asked to participate in a focus group where they could talk about their lives and how they understood the challenges facing youth in their communities.
During the first 3 year phase of the research, the IRP team met with and collected data from over 1400 children aged 12-19 in 14 communities in 11 countries on five continents. The age of the youth may vary across sites as each community decides for itself the most appropriate age of the young people involved.
The International Resilience Project aims to develop research methods appropriate to the study of health related phenomena in at-risk child and youth populations in different cultural contexts. The project also attempts to address the arbitrariness in the selection of outcome variables that are chosen to study youth resilience.
During the first 3-year phase of the research, the IRP piloted and integrated innovative quantitative and qualitative research methods and collected data with over 1500 children in 14 communities on five continents. We continue to collect data on the applicability of our research tools, both qualitative and quantitative, through partnerships with colleagues in countries around the world. This work continues through out other research projects; Pathways to Resilience, Negotiating Resilience, and Spaces and Places.