Resilience
Title
Resilience
Author
Diminich, Erica D.
Bonanno, George A.
Research Area
Development
Topic
Resilience
Abstract
Research on resilience is still evolving. For decades, developmental researchers have documented resilient outcomes in children exposed to chronic maltreatment who nonetheless thrived. Relatively more recently the study of resilience has migrated to the investigation of acute and potentially traumatic life events (PTE) in adults. We first consider some of the key differences in the conceptualization of resilience following chronic adversity versus resilience following single‐incident traumas, and then describe some of the misunderstandings that have developed about these constructs. We describe the terms emergent resilience and minimal‐impact resilience (Bonanno & Diminich, 2013) to represent trajectories of positive adjustment in these two domains, respectively. In particular, we focus on minimal‐impact resilience, and review recent advances in the literature. We then briefly discuss the most widely researched factors (e.g., age, gender, personality) suggested to influence resilient outcomes following exposure to PTEs. In closing, we suggest future areas of research to further expand the study of resilience within the social sciences.