Resilience, coping, and optimal functioning across the lifespan

Abstract

Resilient individuals display good functioning and positive adaptation despite exposure to threats or adverse situations (Cicchetti & Rogosch, 2009; Masten, 2001). Resilience, therefore, is not so much a personality trait possessed by some individuals, but the positive result of adaptation to events that challenge functioning and reveal adaptive capacities. It is a dynamic developmental process of stress and recovery that is scaffolded by factors unique to the individual, his or her family, and community that promote resilient outcomes. In this chapter, we discuss research that has identified protective factors that assist in promoting positive adaptation to stress, and increase opportunity for optimal developmental trajectories following stress.