This paper presents a critical appraisal of resilience, a construct connoting the maintenance of positive adaptation by individuals despite experiences of significant adversity. As empirical research on resilience has burgeoned in recent years, criticisms have been levied at work in this area. These critiques have generally focused on ambiguities in definitions and central terminology; heterogeneity in risks experienced and competence achieved by individuals viewed as resilient; instability of the phenomenon of resilience; and concerns regarding the usefulness of resilience as a theoretical construct. We address each identified criticism in turn, proposing solutions for those we view as legitimate and clarifying misunderstandings surrounding those we believe to be less valid. We conclude that work on resilience possesses substantial potential for augmenting the understanding of processes affecting at-risk individuals. Realization of the potential embodied by this construct, however, will remain constrained without continued scientific attention to some of the serious conceptual and methodological pitfalls that have been noted by skeptics and proponents alike.

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The Construct of Resilience: A Critical Evaluation and Guidelines for Future Work

Resilience may be viewed as a measure of stress coping ability and, as such, could be an important target of treatment in anxiety, depression, and stress reactions. We describe a new rating scale to assess resilience. The Connor-Davidson Resilience scale (CD-RISC) comprises of 25 items, each rated on a 5-point scale (0–4), with higher scores reflecting greater resilience. The scale was administered to subjects in the following groups: community sample, primary care outpatients, general psychiatric outpatients, clinical trial of generalized anxiety disorder, and two clinical trials of PTSD. The reliability, validity, and factor analytic structure of the scale were evaluated, and reference scores for study samples were calculated. Sensitivity to treatment effects was examined in subjects from the PTSD clinical trials. The scale demonstrated good psychometric properties and factor analysis yielded five factors. A repeated measures ANOVA showed that an increase in CD-RISC score was associated with greater improvement during treatment. Improvement in CD-RISC score was noted in proportion to overall clinical global improvement, with greatest increase noted in subjects with the highest global improvement and deterioration in CD-RISC score in those with minimal or no global improvement. The CDRISC has sound psychometric properties and distinguishes between those with greater and lesser resilience. The scale demonstrates that resilience is modifiable and can improve with treatment, with greater improvement corresponding to higher levels of global improvement. Depression and Anxiety 18:76–82, 2003. & 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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Development of a new resilience scale: The Connor‐Davidson Resilience Scale (CD‐RISC)

This review collates and examines critically a theoretically convergent but widely dispersed body of research on the influence of external environments on the functioning of families as contexts of human development. Investigations falling within this expanding domain include studies of the interaction of genetics and environment in family processes; transitions and linkages between the family and other major settings influencing development, such as hospitals, day care, peer groups, school, social networks, the world of work (both for parents and children), and neighborhoods and communities; and public policies affecting families and children. A second major focus is on the patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course as these affect and are affected by intrafamilial processes. Special emphasis is given to critical research gaps in knowledge and priorities for future investigation. The purpose of this article is to document and delineate promising lines of research on external influences that affect the capacity of families to foster the healthy development of their children. The focus differs from that of most studies of the family as a context of human development, because the majority have concentrated on intrafamilial processes of parent-child interaction, a fact that is reflected in Maccoby and Martin's (1983) recent authoritative review of research on family influences on development. By contrast, the focus of the present analysis can be described as "once removed." The research question becomes: How are intrafamilial processes affected by extrafamilial conditions? Paradigm Parameters In tracing the evolution of research models in developmental science, Bronfenbrenner and Crouter (1983) distinguished a series of progressively more sophisticated scientific paradigms for investigating the impact of environment on development. These paradigms provide a useful framework for ordering and analyzing studies bearing on the topic of this review. At the most general level, the research models vary simultaneously along two dimensions. As applied to the subject at hand, the first pertains

http://rinaldipsych.synthasite.com/resources/Bronfenbrenner.pdf

Ecology of the family as a context for human development: research perspectives

The study of resilience in development has overturned many negative assumptions and deficit-focused models about children growing up under the threat of disadvantage and adversity. The most surprising conclusion emerging from studies of these children is the ordinariness of resilience. An examination of converging findings from variable-focused and person-focused investigations of these phenomena suggests that resilience is common and that it usually arises from the normative functions of human adaptational systems, with the greatest threats to human development being those that compromise these protective systems. The conclusion that resilience is made of ordinary rather than extraordinary processes offers a more positive outlook on human development and adaptation, as well as direction for policy and practice aimed at enhancing the development of children at risk for problems and psychopathology.

Ordinary magic. Resilience processes in development.

The authors suggest that the most promising route to effective strategies for the prevention of adolescent alcohol and other drug problems is through a risk-focused approach. This approach requires the identification of risk factors for drug abuse, identification of methods by which risk factors have been effectively addressed, and application of these methods to appropriate high-risk and general population samples in controlled studies. The authors review risk and protective factors for drug abuse, assess a number of approaches for drug abuse prevention potential with high-risk groups, and make recommendations for research and practice.

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Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention.

This study was a follow-up study of a 1955 cohort of births (614 births) on Kauai island in Hawaii. Follow-up was conducted at birth age one and two years age 10 years age 18 years and 31-32 years. The final sample in adulthood was 505 persons. The sample population was comprised of three ethnic groups (Japanese Filipino and part and full Hawaiian) and 54% grew up in poverty. Births were scored for complications as mild moderate or severe. The interviews conducted with mothers postpartum and at one and two years focused on maternal educational level socioeconomic status and family stability; environmental setting was evaluated as favorable to unfavorable on a five-point scale. The 10 year evaluation assessed school work and school behavioral problems mental abilities and stressful life events and illnesses occurring over the preceding 8 years. The home environment was evaluated on the level of educational stimulation emotional support and socioeconomic status. At 18 years a psychological inventory of self-assurance and interpersonal adequacy was conducted and community records were checked for serious mental health or criminal problems. Quality of life of the home environment was also assessed. The follow-up at age 31-32 years assessed the quality of adult adaptation from community records and interview questions which were self-evaluations of personal success satisfaction with family and social life and psychological well-being. Most of the sample led ordinary lives. Some of the stressful life events in childhood and adolescence were associated with coping problems in adulthood.

Overcoming the Odds: High Risk Children from Birth to Adulthood.

Vulnerable but Invincible: A Longitudinal Study of Resilient Children and Youth

Vulnerable, but invincible

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Kauai's children come of age

The usefulness of psychological and pediatric appraisals of intelligence at 20 months in forecasting ability and achievement level at 10 years was explored for a time sample of 639 full-term children. The Cattell IQ was the best single predictor of IQ (r = .49) and achievement (r = .44) at age 10. A combination of Cattell IQ, pediatrician's rating, social quotient, perinatal-stress score, and parental SES yielded a multiple R of .58 with 10year IQ, with most of the added predictive power contributed by parental SES. For children with Cattell IQ's below 80, a combination of infant-test scores and pediatricians' ratings of intelligence yielded a multiple R of .80 with 10-year IQ. The majority of children scoring low on the Cattell or the pediatricians' ratings of intelligence at 20 months had serious schoolachievement problems at 10.

Ruth S. Smith

Papers

Overcoming the Odds: High Risk Children from Birth to Adulthood.

Vulnerable but Invincible: A Longitudinal Study of Resilient Children and Youth

Vulnerable, but invincible

Kauai's children come of age

Prediction of intelligence and achievement at ten years from twenty months pediatric and psychologic examinations.