In order to understand how media may affect the thought processes within adolescences, one has to understand how the different areas of the brain function within the adolescences brain. According to Coch et al. (2007), there are different parts of the brain that mature faster than others. As a result of this issue, adolescences as well as some adults may be influence by certain risk-taking situations within media. There can be positive as well as negative affects toward the influences of media. Media that encourages risk-taking behavior can assist with leadership qualities within adolescence depending on what types of risk-taking behavior is viewed. This can show that adolescences have the abilities to adapt to changing environments and not afraid to make tough decision when under stressful situations. On the other hand,this could lead to legal consequences when in riskful situtaions. In other words, this could lead to lack of educational background, positive peer relationships, as well as isolation from friends and family. The ways that professionals can identify the positive and negative benefits of risk-taking behavior is to assess the reason for the acts that were taken and lead treatment based on the needs of the client.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the initial post of one learner by citing additional resources that may help his or her work, presenting divergent issues for consideration, and providing suggestions for enhancing the post. Your response must contain at least 150 words and one scholarly resource that your peer did not incorporate in his or her initial post.

Amy Ngurukie

My childhood was one of extreme violence, family instability, yet stable in other areas, and not lacking in other areas of life such as attending good schools, living in middle-income areas, being able to travel, and the availability of other material things. As mentioned in the article by Masten (2019) my resilience and capacity to respond to challenges and adversities as an adult has depended on the operation of many systems, to include neurobiological stress-regulation to the families, schools, community safety, and health care systems, and numerous other sociocultural and ecological systems (Masten, 2019).

Biological – Research in biological and genetic factors in resilience indicates that a harsh early environment can affect developing brain structure, function, and neurobiological systems. Brain changes and other biological processes can affect the capacity to moderate negative emotions (p.260). On the other hand, sensitive caregivers in infancy and childhood can increase resilience and reduce the effects of so-called toxic environments and that there may be sensitive periods when interventions work best (Herman, Stewart, Diaz-Grandads, Berger, Jackson & Yuen 2011, p.260). In my life, having a sensitive and nurturing mother has had a positive effect on my ability to have higher levels of resiliency regardless of the many exposures to stressful events throughout my childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. From a biological aspect, studies have shown that maternal care in the rats who increased licking with their pups, reduced the HPA response to stress, and in humans, oxytocin suppresses the HPA axis and may contribute to positive social interaction by reducing stress and anxiety (Herman et al. 2011, p.260). This is evident in my life because my father who was both verbally and physically abusive to my mother and in some instance myself and siblings, my mother continued to shower us with a lot of love and encouragement, and I believe that her actions had an impact in how I deal with stressful situations and in some cases toxic environments (Herman et al. 2011, p.260)

Social – Social support can come from positive peers, supportive teachers, and other adults as well as the immediate family (Herman et al. 2011, p.260). Growing up, my father isolated us from many family members because of the violence at home, and in our culture, domestic violence is not discussed or acknowledged. However, when we had to flee the house or were kicked out, we had support from two of my mother’s siblings and in a sense, I had a small sense of secure attachment with my aunty and uncles, and my cousins in that regard. From a macrolevel, as I mentioned, domestic violence is not discussed in our culture, and as such there was no support from schools, community services, or activities that are geared to support families exposed to violence, nor were there any programs for mental health or substance/alcohol abuse, in my adulthood, I sought out relationships and joined groups that helped me build my resilience through my groups that aligned with my religious beliefs where I was able to be active with like-minded people, and discover that living my life has meaning. Having more intimate relationships with positive family members and friends who validate my feelings have helped me be resilient during difficult times – more specifically during and after my brain surgery.

Psychological- My mother was and is extremely warm and nurturing, and seeing how she handled her situation, help build my self-esteem and self-confidence over time. Being able to control my impulses, manage difficult emotions, and being able to carry on despite setbacks have also been strengthened after watching my mother’s reactions to her situation. Research has shown that children with a history of domestic violence show better outcomes in terms of self-regulation, which is related to personality factors such as perseverance (Vitelli, 2018). Looking back, I can attest to being able to self-regulate and be more in control of my emotions, particularly anger.

From the outside looking in, I was growing up in fairly normal contextual conditions and considering I did not grow up in poverty, homelessness, food insecurity and maternal depression, however, I exposed to adverse situations that threatened my psychological development (Belsky, 2019).

An individual can fare better than others who have experienced the challenges based on several factors. Some of the common factors associated with positive adjustments during or after different adverse experience are relevant across development and context, despite varying (Masten,2019). Common protective factors include effective care-giving and other supportive relationships, problem-solving and self-regulation skills, self-efficacy and optimism, and beliefs that life has meaning (Masten, 2019). It has been proposed that resilience arises from a complex interaction of forces at various levels, to include a person’s genetic heritage, gene-environment reactions, the effect of positive and negative experiences throughout life, the impact of a person’s social settings, and the cultural setting (Herman et al. 2011, p.261).

In my experience, one of the risk factors I have encountered over time is low/lack of self-esteem and identity crisis to some degree. Coming from a family of three girls and being the last born, I struggled with low self-esteem and identity challenges due to the actions of my father. My social and psychological well-being was at risk of not only being exposed to violence, but in our culture having a boy is a man’s pride and joy, and a sign of wealth because of the legacy of having someone carry on the family name. My gender was more at risk in Kenya than when I came to the United States but from a different perspective. Although I was not exposed to social or educational exclusions as most girls do in many parts of Africa, I still felt “responsible” for my father’s actions towards my mother, and as such, it took me coming to a different country/culture to change my way of thinking to avoid any adverse effects on my mental health.