The Promotion of Resilience in the Face of Adversity

Resilience is a concept that suggests that some individuals have a relatively good psychological outcome despite suffering risk experiences that would be expected to bring about serious sequelae. In other words, resilience implies relative resistance to environmental risk experiences, or the overcoming of stress or adversity. It is not strictly social competence or positive mental health. Essentially, it is an interactive concept that involves the combination of serious risk experiences and a relatively positive psychological outcome despite those experiences (Cicchetti, Rogosch, Lynch, & Holt, 1993; Luthar, 2003; Masten, Best, Garmezy, 1990; Masten, 2001; Rutter, 1985; Rutter, 1987; Rutter, 1990; Rutter, 1999; Rutter, 2000a; Rutter, 2003; Werner & Smith, 1982; 1992).