Resilience

Early childhood is an important window of time for understanding and promoting resilience. Children typically experience multiple risks in multiple social contexts. Combined prevention and intervention efforts work together to target multiple rather than single sources of resilience.

Interventions must be dynamic, flexible and culturally specific to ensure their integration into the structure of the community. Effective resilience programs target multiple developmental systems and promote community participation and empowerment.

The most effective intervention programs will reduce factors associated with disorder (i.e. risks), provide resources associated with positive adaptation (i.e. assets) and support the core adaptational systems through multi-faceted applications.

For children with biological vulnerabilities (e.g. high stress-reactivity or less-than-average intelligence), we must ensure that mothers have sufficient resources to provide warmth and consistency in everyday schedules in order to foster resilience.