Resilience in families raising children with disabilities and behavior problems David McConnell a, *, Amber Savage a,1 , Rhonda Breitkreuz b,2 a Family and Disability Studies Initiative, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, 3-66 Corbett Hall, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2G4 b Gender, Family, & Policy Studies, Human Ecology, University of Alberta, 330 Human Ecology, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2N1 Despite well-documented challenges, most families bringing up children with disabilities ‘do well’. However, child behavior problems increase the risk of poor family outcomes. Behavior problems can disrupt family routines and relationships, and tax family adaptive resources. Arguably, families who do well despite the stressors associated with bringing up a disabled child with behavior problems display ‘resilience’. A challenge for family researchers is to account for such resilience: why do some families do well when others, exposed to similar stressors, struggle to keep their family life running? In this study we investigate the proposition that such resilience is context-bound. Our principal hypothesis is that families of disabled children with behavior problems do well, or at least better, under conditions of high social support and low financial hardship. 1. Background Families of children with disabilities have to contend with many out-of-the-ordinary challenges. Some challenges may be directly related to the child’s condition. Other challenges and hardships have little or nothing to do with the child’s condition Research in Developmental Disabilities xxx (2014) xxx–xxx ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 19 November 2013 Received in revised form 6 January 2014 Accepted 9 January 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Family Disabilities Resilience Social ecology Behavior problems ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the resilience displayed by families raising children with disabilities and behavior problems. The question is why do some families do well when others, exposed to similar stressors, struggle to keep their family life running? A stratified (by child age group) random sample of 538 families raising children with disabilities in Alberta, Canada took part. Participants completed the Family Life Survey, which incorporated measures of child behavior problems, social–ecological resources and family-level ‘outcomes’. Families raising children with disabilities and behavior problems ‘do well’ under conditions of high social support and low financial hardship. In contrast, families with low levels of social support and high levels of financial hardship typically struggle, even when the number or intensity of child behavior problems is low. The study findings are consistent with the view that ‘resilience’ has more to do with the availability and accessibility of culturally relevant resources than with intrinsic, individual or family factors. With respect to family-level outcomes, strengthening social relationships and ameliorating financial hardship may be more important than behavior modification. ß 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 780 492 7475. E-mail addresses: david.mcconnell@ualberta.ca (D. McConnell), amsavage@ualberta.ca (A. Savage), rhonda.breitkreuz@ualberta.ca (R. Breitkreuz). 1 Tel.: +1 780 492 5997. 2 Tel.: +1 780 492 8568. G Model RIDD-2181; No. of Pages 16 Please cite this article in press as: McConnell, D., et al. Resilience in families raising children with disabilities and behavior problems. Research in Developmental Disabilities (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2014.01.015 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Developmental Disabilities 0891-4222/$ – see front matter ß 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2014.01.015