Why do some individuals collapse under the stresses of life, while others seem to do well coping with the same conditions? Why do some children who experience maltreatment and other disadvantages develop severe psychosocial difficulties later in life, while others with similar unfortunate backgrounds mature into normal and successful adults? Understanding the factors that contribute to vulnerability and resilience provides valuable answers.
Resilience refers to an individual’s competence and successful adaptation following exposure to significant adversity and stressful life events. Vulnerability is defined as susceptibility to negative developmental outcomes under high-risk conditions. Werner (1989) identified factors that place children at risk:
• Poverty;
• Family environments characterized by discord, desertion, violence, parental substance abuse, or psychological disturbance;
• Low educational level;
• Single parent;
• Lack of family resources and support; and
• Perinatal health problems, congenital handicaps, or other biological and genetic deficiencies.
Individual and environmental “protective factors” have been identified that mediate the effects of adversity and promote resiliency. Individual protective factors in children include cognitive skills, alertness, curiosity, enthusiasm, goal setting, high self-esteem, internal locus of control (take responsibility, feel competent), and temperament (easy, uninhibited). Environmental protective factors include family-community ties, parents who set rules, show respect for the child’s individuality, and foster secure attachment, and a stable family environment (Herrenkohl, Harrenkohl, & Egoff 1994).
Studies of resiliency have consistently found that the most basic and important protective factor is the history of caregiver-child attachment. Secure attachments are a primary defense against the development of severe psychopathology associated with adversity and trauma. In children who have been exposed to early loss and stress, the quality of parent-child attachment is the most important determinant of long-term damage (McFarlane 1988; van der Kolk 1996). Even when securely attached children deteriorate in the school years due to extreme diversity, they are more likely to rebound later, compared to children who are anxiously attached from early life (Sroufe, Egeland, & Kreutzer 1990). Secure attachment to secondary caregivers (extended kin, fathers, mentors) can help a child overcome adversity, including an anxious attachment with mother (Egeland, Jacobvitz, & Sroufe 1988).
One of the largest interdisciplinary investigations of resiliency in vulnerable children was a 40-year longitudinal study by Emmy Werner (Werner 1989; Werner & Smith 1992). Werner’s study showed that one-third of the children who experienced perinatal stress, poverty, parental alcoholism and emotional problems, and family disruption, developed into caring and competent adults. Three types of protective factors were identified: 1) dispositional attributes, such as sociability, intelligence, communication skills, and confidence; 2) affectional ties within the family that provide emotional support in times of stress; and 3) external support systems at school, church, or in the community, that provide validation, support, and a positive belief system by which to live. The researchers emphasized that “the developmental outcome of virtually every biological risk condition was dependent on the quality of the rearing environment” (Werner & Smith 1992, p. 191). The most important ingredient in establishing a positive rearing environment is high-quality interaction between parent and child; i.e., secure attachment (Letourneau 1997).
Interventions that attempt to promote high-quality parent-child relations and secure attachment patterns are effective in enhancing resiliency in high-risk children and families. Following a home intervention program designed to improve parent-infant interaction, preterm, low birth weight infants were found to have better cognitive development and improved interaction with parents during feeding and playing (Barrera, Rosenbaum, & Cunningham 1986). First-grade children of depressed mothers were found to have fewer behavior problems and better coping skills when high-quality mother-child interaction was fostered (Harnish, Dodge, Valente 1995). Low-income, at-risk mothers and infants, provided with education and support that started prenatally and lasted until the infants were 6 months old, were found to improve the quality of their attachment relationships (Starn 1992). Thus, although there are other factors that contribute to resiliency, such as temperament and external support systems, the development of high-quality, stable, and secure attachments in infancy and early childhood provides a foundation that is crucial to later adaptation, success, and health.
