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Resilience as process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2009

Byron Egeland*
Affiliation:
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
Elizabeth Carlson
Affiliation:
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
L. Alan Sroufe
Affiliation:
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Byron Egeland, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, 51 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455.

Abstract

Resilience, the development of competence despite severe or pervasive adversity, is examined using data from a longitudinal study of high-risk children and families. The study is guided by an organizationaldevelopmental perspective. Resilience is conceived not as a childhood given, but as a capacity that develops over time in the context of person-environment interactions. Factors related to resilience in our study are examined in terms of this transactional process. From our studies, we have found emotionally responsive caregiving to mediate the effects of high-risk environments and to promote positive change for children who have experienced poverty, family stress, and maltreatment. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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