The Study of Stress and Competence in Children: A Building Block for Developmental Psychopathology

TLDR

The article outlines foundational elements of developmental psychopathology, emphasizing risk, competence, and protective factors. The study proposes a three‑model framework—compensatory, challenge, and protective factor models—to assess stress resistance using multivariate regression. Project Competence employs a structured methodology and analytic strategies to examine stress and competence. Illustrative data demonstrate the models, and the authors conclude with an evaluation and future research directions.

Abstract

This article discusses the building blocks for a developmental psychopathology, focusing on studies of risk, competence, and protective factors. The current Project Competence studies of stress and competence are described, with particular attention to the methodology and strategies for data analysis. The authors present a 3-model approach to stress resistance in a multivariate regression framework: the compensatory, challenge, and protective factor models. These models are illustrated by selected data. In the concluding section, an evaluation of the project is offered in terms of future directions for research.