Resilience and developmental psychopathology

Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2007 Apr;16(2):271-83, vii. doi: 10.1016/j.chc.2006.11.003.

Abstract

Humans vary to a great extent in their ability to adapt to adverse experiences. Resilience reflects the positive end of this spectrum of adaptation and maladaptation in response to risk exposure. Some individuals, despite being faced with the most pernicious of adversities, manage to avoid psychologic collapse and to maintain healthy adjustment. For decades, researchers and clinicians have searched for the correlates and causes of resilience, and several comprehensive reviews of these efforts are available. This article provides an overview of resilience research and selectively summarizes recent advances in the field, with a particular focus on a developmental psychopathology perspective. This article highlights some of the challenges to resilience research and uses the example of maltreatment to illustrate some of these issues.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Child Abuse / psychology
  • Child Abuse / statistics & numerical data
  • Child of Impaired Parents / psychology
  • Child of Impaired Parents / statistics & numerical data
  • Developmental Disabilities / epidemiology*
  • Developmental Disabilities / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Mental Disorders / epidemiology*
  • Mental Disorders / genetics
  • Mental Disorders / psychology*
  • Social Environment