Hardy Plants, Hardy Children

1. Hardy Plants, Hardy Children Michael D. Matthews Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership U.S. Military Academy West Point, New York

2. Hardiness: Able to withstand fatigue, privation, etc.; robust; vigorous (Webster’s Dictionary)

3. Personality Hardiness: the pattern of attitudes and strategies that constitute the existential courage and motivation to do the hard work of turning stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities (Maddi, 2002).

4. Background • By its very nature, personal growth and development is naturally stressful for all children • “birth trauma” (Otto Rank) • learning about gravity and the physical world • social learning/socialization/rule learning • adjusting to school, sports, dating, etc. • and then adulthood . . . .

6. Background • Stress is neutral in its impact on development and adjustment • Without stress, there would be no impetus for personal growth • Given that stress is inevitable and ubiquitous, the key is learning adaptive ways of viewing the world and dealing with challenges as they arise

7. Hardiness • The “Three C’s” of hardiness • Commitment: the belief in persisting in tasks, no matter how daunting they may be • Control: the belief that you possess the behavioral, emotional, and cognitive skills needed to prevail • Challenge: the perspective that life’s challenges provide you with a chance to grow new skills and perspectives

8. Hardiness & Children

9. Hardiness & Children • Children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) are no less adaptive in social functioning, emotional well-being, and behavior (Noll et al, 2001) • Hardiness mediates grief and other negative emotions in adult children of MIAs (Campbell & Demi, 2000) • Hardiness and resilience is the common response of children with cancer (Noll & Kupst, 2007) • High-hardy high school students have higher SAT scores and higher class rank than low-hardy students (Busko et al, 2000) • Among highly stressed teens, hardiness mitigated against pathological physical and psychological symptoms (Shepperd & Kashani, 1991)

10. Hardiness & West Point Cadets

11. Hardiness & West Point Cadets • Some general findings on the role of hardiness and its relationship to performance among West Point cadets: • Hardiness is a significant predictor of first year academic, military, and • physical fitness performance (Maddi et al. 2008) • Cadets higher in hardiness are more likely to complete training (Bartone et • al, 2005) • Hardiness tested at entry to West Point predicts favorable ratings of • leadership three years following graduation

12. Hardiness & Soldiers

13. Hardiness & Soldiers • Deployed soldiers high in hardiness showed better health outcomes and reported less combat-related and life stress than those lower in hardiness (Bartone, 1999) • Hardiness may protect soldiers against “existential boredom” (Bartone, 2005) • High hardiness is associated with increased engagement and meaning both during and in the months following deployment (Britt et al., 2001)

14. Are You Hardier than a West Point Cadet? I will show you three sets of statements. Use the following scale to rate how true each statement is to you. (The scale is reproduced with each set of statements.) 0 = not at all true1 = a little true2 = quite true3 = completely true

15. Use the following scale to rate each statement:0 = not at all true1 = a little true2 = quite true3 = completely true 1. Most of my life gets spent doing things that are worthwhile. 2. Working hard matters, because we all profit by it. 3. I really look forward to my work activities. 4. Trying your best at work is really worth it in the end. 5. Most days, life is really interesting and exciting for me. Scoring: Add up your responses to each question and record the total score.

16. Use the following scale to rate each statement:0 = not at all true1 = a little true2 = quite true3 = completely true 6. Planning ahead can help avoid most future problems. 7. By working hard you can nearly always achieve your goals. 8. If I'm working on a difficult task, I know when to ask for help. 9. Most of the time, people listen carefully to what I say. 10. When I make plans I'm certain I can make them work. Scoring: Add up your responses to each question and record the total score.

17. Use the following scale to rate each statement:0 = not at all true1 = a little true2 = quite true3 = completely true 11. I don’t mind making changes to my regular activities. 12. Changes in routine are interesting to me. 13. It does not bother me when my daily routine gets interrupted. 14. I enjoy the challenge when I have to do more than one thing at a time. 15. I like having a flexible daily schedule. Scoring: Add up your responses to each question and record the total score.

18. Final Scoring Add up your three sub scores. The range of possible scores is 0 to 45 The average score for a cadet is 30.57 Questions 1-5 measure commitment Questions 6-10 measure control Questions 11-15 measure challenge For each sub score, the mean cadet score was approximately 10.2

19. Building Hardiness

20. Building Hardiness • Hardiness is likely a jointly interactive function of genes and environment • Constitutional differences in neural and autonomic nervous system function may suggest different developmental trajectories • Multiple levels of interaction between genes and environmental influences • Emerging understanding of role of epigenetics in regulating gene expression

21. Building Hardiness (Maddi, 2012) • Commitment • Nurturing the commitment attitude • encouragement • acceptance • approval • Stultifying the commitment attitude • - neglect • - hostility • - disapproval

22. Building Hardiness (Maddi, 2012) • Control • Nurturing the control attitude • progressive experience of task mastery • social reinforcement for success • aim for challenges but not tasks that are too difficult (or too easy) • Stultifying the control attitude • - giving the child tasks that are too easy (learned • indifference) • - giving the child tasks that are too hard (learned • helplessness)

23. Building Hardiness (Maddi, 2012) • Challenge • Nurturing the challenge attitude • frame change as richness in life • frame change as opportunity to learn new skills • change is viewed as interesting and fun • Stultifying the challenge attitude • - change is framed as a threat, obstacle, hassle

24. Three Hardiness Strategies (Maddi, 2012) • Parents should emphasize: • problem solving coping (builds self-efficacy, efficient problem solving strategies) • supportive social interactions (allows effective and engaged social behavior, direct conflict resolution strategies) • taking care of one’s self (establishes autonomy and confidence) • In essence, practice Roger’s principle of unconditional positive regard toward your children

25. The Hardiness Institute • Dr. Salvatore Maddi established the Hardiness Institute • The Institute is a clearing house for hardiness training, testing, and information • Notably, information on a “train the trainer” protocol is available at • http://www.hardinessinstitute.com/

26. Conclusions • Hardiness is a psychological construct that helps explain positive adaptive behavior under both the normal stresses of life and exceptional stresses that sometime occur • Parents, teachers, and others may have a strong impact on developing hardiness in children • Hardiness is especially relevant to military children, given the challenges they face • Hardiness may make the difference between flourishing versus floundering in the face of challenge, adversity, and change

27. Questions