Recent posts on AddictionNews have pointed to new research that highlights the role that impulsive behavior plays in substance use disorder issues. For example:

• Several studies have shown that children prone to bullying behavior also show a lack of impulse control and a higher rate of substance use disorder.

• Brain scans of people in recovery from substance use disorders show higher than normal activity in areas associated with impulse control.

• Brain scans of adolescents suffering from profound internet addiction show it “aligns with similar substance-use and gambling disorders.”

Today, AddictionNews is starting a short series of posts looking at how to build resilience in children to give them the backbone to withstand peer pressure, a goal-oriented attitude that helps avoid pitfalls, and a policy of knowing when to say, “When.”

First up is an in-depth look at using storytelling to build resilience in children. In a post last week, we took a look at the smartphone app, MangaChat, which uses “art-driven emotional journaling” to encourage episodic future thinking. Their research shows that children who play MangaChat improve their scores on delay gratification and mental resilience.

In August 2024, the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing published a systematic review of the impact of storytelling on resilience in children. By the standards of many meta-analyses, the sample size seems thin: 11 studies published between 2012 and 2022. The ways in which resilience was measured varied across those 11 studies, which included:

• one randomized quantitative study
• three non-randomized quantitative studies
• three qualitative studies
• four mixed-methods studies

Digging a little deeper into the measurement of resilience, here are some of the tools used in the 11 studies:

• Ego-Resiliency Q-Sort
• Child and Youth Resiliency Measure
• Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale
• Children’s anxiety and depression scale
• Child Behavioural Checklist
• Childhood Stress Scale
• Child Depression Inventory
• Cognitive Triad Inventory

There are a variety of other tools, in some cases created by the researchers themselves. One study, from 2013 in Canada, used five different measures to gauge coping skills, anxiety, and self-efficacy in solving problems. The qualitative studies used established techniques such as Draw a Person In the Rain, and Draw-and-Talk-Write.

The storytelling tools used varied from “folktales and fairy tales to bibliography and storybook interventions,” but the results were the same. Researchers found:

[I]ndicators of resilient coping responses where stories instilled a sense of hope and perseverance in the children, enabled them to identify and think about the role that people in the community play in their lives and helped them reflect upon the concept of family and how it related to their lives.

When a child can adopt and sustain […] protective attributes that support the development of resilience […] these supportive behavioural characteristics, coupled with supportive environmental factors, they tend to have optimal outcomes in terms of well-being.

Arts-based methods like use of drawings, collages and drama, and methods like bibliography interventions that were used to promote empathy, prosocial behaviours and elicit factors of resilience, are culturally adaptable and reproducible.

Storytelling not only decreased symptoms of anxiety and depression, but it also helped children recognize elements of mental health and increased their awareness of personal as well as community-based protective resources.

So there you have the first in our mini-series on building resilience in children. The use of storytelling not only reduces anxiety and increases resilience, it also improves literacy. Storytelling is cross-cultural; it can be done with images or text and easily migrates from language to language. Storytelling can also provide parents, teachers, and caregivers with important indicators of progress in developing resilience in children.

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published November 25, 2024.

Sources:

“The impact of storytelling on building resilience in children: A systematic review,” Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, August 2024.

“Evaluation of a Primary Prevention Program for Anxiety Disorders Using Story Books with Children Aged 9–12 Years,” The Journal of Primary Prevention, August 2013.

Image Copyright: annanahabed.