Expressions of Resilience
Description of Expressions of Resilience
Resilience can be described by viewing:
- good outcomes regardless of high-risk status,
- constant competence under stress,
- recovery from trauma, and
- using challenges for growth that makes future hardships more tolerable.
Resilience describes people who are expected to adapt successfully even though they experience risk factors that ‘stack the odds’ against them experiencing good development. Risk factors are related to poor or negative outcomes. For example, poverty, low socioeconomic status, and mothers with schizophrenia are coupled with lower academic achievement and more emotional or behavioral problems. Risk factors may be cumulative, carrying additive and exponential risks when they co-occur. When these risk factors happen, according to a study conducted on children, resilient children are capable of resulting in no behavioral problems and developing well. Additionally, they are more active and socially responsive. These positive outcomes are attributed to some protective factors, such as good parenting or positive school experiences.
Resilience is also treated as an effective coping mechanism when people are under stress, such as divorce. In this context, resilience is relevant with sustained competence exhibited by individuals who experience challenging conditions. Most research built on this perspective focuses on the children’s response to parents’ divorce in terms of gender. Boys show more conduct problems than do girls; girls obtain more support from mothers and are less exposed to family conflict than boys. Although divorce may have some negative impacts on children’s development, it may help children in single households to become more responsible than those in dual-parents households because of helping with chores. Some protective factors attributing to resilient children in single-family, for example, are adults caring for children during or after major stressors (e.g., divorce), or self-efficacy for motivating endeavor at adaptation.
Finally, resilience can be viewed as the phenomenon of recovery from a prolonged or severe adversity, or from an immediate danger or stress. In this case, resilience is not related to vulnerability. People who experience acute trauma, for example, may show extreme anxiety, sleep problems, and intrusive thoughts. Over time, these symptoms decrease and recovery is likely. 1
Keywords about Expressions of Resilience
Coping mechanism, stress, divorce, children, motivation, adversity, trauma, anxiety, sleep problems, parenting
External Links for Expressions of Resilience
- Masten, A. S.; Best, K. M.; Garmezy, N. (1990). "Resilience and development: Contributions from the study of children who overcome adversity".
- Video story about Japan's resilient survivors of the 2011 tsunami
- Professor Stephen Carpenter from Zoology Department, University of Wisconsin, explains the meaning behind the concept resilience in 47 seconds.
