Negative life events and the adjustment of school-age children: testing protective models

Investigated the association between negative life events and protective factors in predicting the adaptive, emotional, and behavioral functioning of school-age children. Three possible models of this relation were tested using hierarchical analyses: the compensatory model, the challenge model, and the immunity/vulnerability model. Participants were 140 children between the ages of 8 to 13.6 years. Inconsistent with all 3 models, negative life events were not associated with adaptive or internalizing behavior. However, consistent with the compensatory model, both negative life events and protective factors contributed independently to the prediction of externalizing behavior. Also, a significant interaction was found in predicting internalizing behavior for the female-only sample showing girls with significant negative life events and social support demonstrating less internalizing behavior.