Comparison of resilience between male and female orphan children

The present study was undertaken with the objective to investigate resilience among orphan children and to compare the level of resilience based on age and gender. The sample consisted of 120 orphan children, 60 each boys and girls in the age group of 10–17 years were selected using purposive sampling technique from three orphanages in Chennai. The Connon-Davidson Resilience Scale briefer 10 item version was used to assess the resilience of the selected children. The results showed that most of the orphan children faced social isolation, social and cultural discrimination. The comparison of resilience characters based on age showed majority of the older children exhibited resilience characters better than the younger ones. Majority of the girls found to have high level of resilience (40%), compared to 48% of boys who had low level of resilience. Most of the older orphan children (65%) found to have high level of resilience than younger children (7%). There existed a significant difference in resilience of older children and girls than older age group and boys (p<0.001). The research observed the need of continuous psychological interventions in the form of individual counseling and moral support from caretakers, teachers and volunteers to help in improving the level of resilience among orphan children.