Child Abuse & Neglect 37 (2013) 1007–1020 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Child Abuse & Neglect Multilevel correlates of behavioral resilience among children in child welfare Tessa Bell ∗ , Elisa Romano, Robert J. Flynn School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Vanier Hall, 136 Jean Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 16 April 2013 Received in revised form 2 July 2013 Accepted 13 July 2013 Available online 7 August 2013 Keywords: Resilience Children Multilevel correlates Child welfare a b s t r a c t Resilience, defined as positive adaptation and functioning following exposure to significant adversity, is an important topic of investigation in child welfare. The current study used data from the Ontario Looking After Children (OnLAC) project to estimate the prevalence of behavioral resilience (i.e., lower frequency of conduct and emotional problems, higher frequency of prosocial behavior) in 531 5–9 year olds living in out-of-home care, and to determine how behaviorally-resilient children are functioning in other domains (i.e., peer relationships and academic performance). Furthermore, hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the contribution of four levels of analysis (i.e., child, family, child wel- fare worker, and child welfare agency) on behaviors and to identify the contribution of predictor variables within each of these levels. Findings indicated that 50–70% of children exhibited resilience on one behavioral outcome while approximately 30% showed resilience on at least two of the outcomes. Also, 8.4–9.6% exhibited resilience on one of the behav- ioral outcomes in addition to peer relationships and academic performance. The child level accounted for the highest proportion of total explained variance in behavioral outcomes, followed by the family-, child welfare worker-, and child welfare agency-levels. A number of child and foster family variables predicted behavioral functioning. Findings indicate that it is important to inquire about children’s functioning across multiple domains to obtain a comprehensive developmental assessment. Also, child and foster family characteristics appear to play considerable roles in the promotion of behavioral resilience. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Child maltreatment has been recognized as a significant public health concern, and many studies have highlighted the impact that maltreatment has on functioning across the lifespan (Zielinski & Bradshaw, 2006). While such investigations have provided valuable information on the development and treatment of maltreatment-related outcomes, research over the last few decades has also begun to focus attention on individuals who function well despite having experienced adversity. This concept, known as resilience, has been defined as positive adaptation and functioning following exposure to significant risk or adversity (Masten, 2006). Individuals considered to be resilient are generally functioning well despite the fact that they have experienced situations in which negative outcomes would be expected (Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000). While the literature has consistently endorsed this definition, there are different ways in which positive adaptation has been defined in empirical investigations, making it difficult to compare findings and draw conclusions about resilience more generally (Walsh, Dawson, & Mattingly, 2010). The study of resilience is highly applicable to children living in out-of-home care given that they have experienced both adversity and family disruption and that there are high rates of behavioral difficulties associated with these experiences ∗ Corresponding author address: School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Vanier Hall, 136 Jean Jacques Lussier, Room 3079, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada. 0145-2134/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.07.005