A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RESILIENCE IN GENDER DIFFERENCES AMONG ADOLESCENTS GIRLS AND BOYS

Abstract

This intervention program is designed to develop resilience in adolescents because mental health disorders are thought to affect one in seven (14%) of children aged 10 to 19 worldwide, although they are commonly ignored and untreated. This research investigated possible gender disparities in results and assessed the efficacy of a school-based intervention program intended to improve resilience in adolescents. This study used a quasi-experimental research design. A total sample of  50 adolescents (25 girls + 25 boys) of 7th to 10th standard of two schools of the Etah district of Uttar Pradesh State, were selected by random sampling. In this study, an intervention program was developed targeting 5 skills: Acceptance, Empathy, Decision Making, Effective Communication, and Self-Awareness. Activities based on these skills were conducted by the researcher in the normal class schedule. Unpaired t-tests were performed to examine differences in resilience related skills between adolescent boys and girls. The results indicated that no statistically significant differences between boys and girls on each of the measured skills (all p > 0.05). All these findings imply that girls and boys equally benefited from the activities with equal development in all five skill areas. The conclusion is that “gender” is not a factor influencing resilience among adolescents. Both girls and boys seem to equally benefit from activities aimed at building resilience, indicative of a well-balanced development of interpersonal and coping abilities. Findings also suggest that resilience-building interventions can be successfully implemented in school settings for both genders.