Resilient Youth in Stressed Environments (RYSE) and related studies
The original RYSE study was conceptualized as an investigation of the multisystemic sources of youth resilience for youth living in Canadian and South African communities challenged by an extraction industry (specifically, the oil and gas industry). RYSE is a five-year study (April 2017 to April 2022) funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The principal investigator is Dr. Michael Ungar, Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience and Director, Resilience Research Centre, Dalhousie University. The co-principal investigator is Prof. Linda Theron, Full Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria and Associate of the Centre for the Study of Resilience. Information about the full research team and the research sites is available at www.ryseproject.org.
Alexander Makhnach, Linda Theron, Michael Ungar
The RYSE-RuSA study builds on the RYSE study. It adds a second South African research site (another community challenged by the oil and gas industry) and four Russian sites that exemplify stressed environments. This three-year study (2019-2021) is funded by National Research Foundation, South Africa (SA (NRF) / Russia (RFBR) Joint Science and Technology Research Collaboration. The South African principal investigator is Prof. Linda Theron, Full Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria, and Associate of the Centre for the Study of Resilience. The Russian principal investigator is Dr. Alexander Makhnach, Rector of the Institute of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Moscow, and Senior Researcher, Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Information about the full research team and the research sites is available at www.ryseproject.org.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and related psychosocial challenges, a sub-sample of RYSE participants was engaged in the 2020 study titled ‘Youth Resilience in the face of C-19’. It was funded by Leicester University and led by Dr Diane Levine (Deputy Director, Leicester Institute for Advanced Studies, UK) and Prof. Linda Theron (Full Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria and Associate of the Centre for the Study of Resilience). Dr Michael Ungar (Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience and Director, Resilience Research Centre, Dalhousie University) and Dr Gavin Brown (Professor of Political Geography & Sexualities, University of Leicester) were co-applicants. This study trialled the digital methodology that is informing a 2021-2022 study titled ‘Positive adaptation to compound risk: Learning about mental health resilience from African emerging adults’. It also engages a sub-sample of RYSE participants, is funded by the British Academy, and led by Dr Diane Levine (Deputy Director, Leicester Institute for Advanced Studies, UK) and Prof. Linda Theron (Full Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria and Associate of the Centre for the Study of Resilience). Dr Michael Ungar (Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience and Director, Resilience Research Centre, Dalhousie University) and Dr Sadiyya Haffejee (Senior Researcher, Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg) are co-applicants. Netsai Gwata (PhD student) and Phumzile Kunene are collaborating as research assistants.
Likewise, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and related psychosocial challenges, the NIHSS has funded a 12-month study (2021-2022) to better understand the resilience of COVID-19 challenged emerging adults from disadvantaged urban communities in South Africa and India. This study, titled ‘The multisystemic sources of human resilience to COVID-19-related stress: Learning from emerging adults in India and South Africa’ is led by Prof. Linda Theron (University of Pretoria, SA) and Prof. Annalakshmi Narayan (Department of Psychology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India). The co-applicants are Professor Kate Cockcroft (University of the Witwatersrand, SA) and Professor Ansie Fouché (North-West University, SA) and Dr. Michael Ungar (Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience and clinical social work professor, Dalhousie University, Canada). A number of post-graduate students will collaborate too.