Date of Award

6-2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership

Department

Educational Leadership and Curriculum

First Reader/Committee Chair

Winslade, John

Abstract

Numerous studies had explored wide-ranging effects of childhood adversity. Yet, there is no known study that explores the impact of non-parental relationships (NPR) formed during the participation in out-of-school youth activities (OSYA), and future orientation (FO) on academic resiliency (AR) among people with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). This study moved away from the deficit perspective and focused on the strengths of individuals rather than weaknesses. The study examined the impact of protective factors of OSYA, NPR, and FO using the Michael Ungar’s (2011) Socio-Ecological Model of Resiliency to better understand their role on AR among university students with ACEs. A quantitative approach, quasi-experimental design explored the research questions using only a single subject group, one-time post-test paper/web-based questionnaire (Creswell & Creswell, 2014). The following four hypotheses were conducted: Student-Staff Relationships formed in Out of School Youth Activities (NPR-OSYA) will positively correlate with FO; NPR-OSYA will differ between the No ACEs and Yes ACEs groups; FO will differ between No ACEs and Yes ACEs groups; NPR-OSYP and FO will predict higher AR among the Yes ACEs group. Results illustrated the complexity of the role of protective factors on AR among university students with ACEs. In conclusion, understanding the narratives of NPR-OSYP can help educators and counselor implement strategies to improve interaction and foster resilience among students who are struggling academically.

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