Developing Protective Factors to Build Resilience in our Children

written by:  Jennifer Tofaeono, MBA, MHSA, Executive Director, ASADSV.   Both Photos from online website. (right retrieved: https://www.nps.gov/npsa/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm
Suicide continues to be a serious problem in American Samoa.  Many local organizations focus on the risk factors of suicidal behavior, but we need to develop protective factors for our youth, such as resilience.  Through resilience our youth can make connections to construct support networks, and the ability to change the tendency to view crises as insurmountable challenges.  We want our youth to nurture a positive of self and their abilities. 
Resilience studies performed over the past 15 years suggest building resilience can help develop additional suicide prevention interventions.  Resilience is the capacity and dynamic process of adaptively overcoming stress and adversity while maintaining normal psychological and physical functioning[1]. For many years we have believed resiliency was a trait kids were born with, but in reality, we now know resilience in kids can be taught and nurtured.  Parents need to invest in our children the importance of resilient thinking and managing emotions to develop their strengths.
As parents we can build the protective factors in our kids.  Increase their coping skills.   Encourage them to stay connected with their support systems during challenging times of stress.  This looks different for everyone, help your child to create safe spaces, to use in moments of high stress.  Using support from mental health care can help our kids to overcome difficult or different challenges. A licensed professional may make a big difference for individuals experiencing suicidal thinking, depression, or other mental health concerns.  Ask directly can help you determine risk for your child.  Ask them if they have thoughts of suicide and means for harm, and do not be afraid to ask.  As you talk to your children you can ask, “Are you thinking about killing yourself?  What have you thought about using to hurt yourself?”  Children support systems state these questions will not put the idea in a child’s mind.  
Attached is a simple emotions activity for kids, “Monstrous Emotions”.  If your child is having monstrous emotions this activity will help them to “tackle the beast”.  You can use story telling with your child to share their feelings and help them to identify different ways to be resilient, being able to bounce back from stressful feelings. 

https://lemonlimeadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Emotional-Monsters.pdf
[1] Sher L. Resilience as a focus of suicide research and prevention. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2019 Aug;140(2):169-180. doi: 10.1111/acps.13059. Epub 2019 Jun 20. PMID: 31150102.retried on 08/30/2021 from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31150102/