Building Resilience Skills in Hispanic Middle School Girls: An Outcomes Based Research Study

Abstract

A review of literature showed clearly the problems faced by the Hispanic population in general and the problems of Hispanic females in specific terms as related to resilience, academic success and self concept. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a cognitive behavioral group counseling intervention program on the self concept of at risk middle school Hispanic females as measured by the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scales 2. The sample size of 14 was randomly assigned to one of two groups, control or experimental, with seven students in each group. During the course of the study, two students withdrew from school, leaving a total group of twelve students who completed the study. The control group had 6 members and the experimental group had 6 members. Participants in the experimental group systematically learned skills to build self-esteem by practicing the life skills of assertiveness, decision making, communication, goal setting and problem solving by participating in this study. Repeated measurements analyses of variance were performed on the seven scales of the Piers-Harris 2. No statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups were found.