RESILIENCE
Resilience in Development:
The Importance of Early
Childhood
Ann S. Masten, PhD, Abigail H. Gewirtz, PhD, Julianna K. Sapienza, PhD
University of Minnesota, USA
May 2024, 2e éd. rév.
Introduction
The concept of resilience, originally from the Latin resilire (to rebound, recoil, or spring back), is
now widely utilized in multiple fields of study to refer to the capacity of a system to respond
effectively to challenges that threaten its function, survival, or development.1-3 It is applied in
psychology, ecology, engineering, communications, and disaster management, among other
fields.3,4 In developmental child psychology, resilience refers to resources and processes that
promote and protect positive adaptation or development in the context of risk or adversity.
Although people have been fascinated with stories of resilience for thousands of years—judging
from ancient tales of individuals who triumph over adversity—the scientific study of resilience in
children began around 1970.1-3,5 Nonetheless, great strides have been made in the past five
decades of research and it is clear that early childhood is an important window of time for
understanding and fostering resilience.6-9 During these years, the roots of competence are
established and many of the most important protective systems for human development emerge.
Thus, early childhood holds great promise for interventions that prevent and reduce risk, boost
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resources, promote competence and build a strong foundation for future development.
Subject
Understanding naturally occurring resilience provides important clues for policies and practices
designed to promote healthier development in children threatened by adversity or disadvantage.
It is also vital to learn how to foster positive change, so that the odds for favourable development
can be improved. Prevention and intervention studies are essential to test the ideas coming from
resilience research, to learn the best targets, methods and developmental timing for
interventions, and also to learn which approaches work best for whom.1-3,10-13
Problems
To study resilience, one must define and operationalize it.14 This has proven to be challenging for
several key reasons. First, resilience refers to a variety of phenomena, such as recovery after the
loss of a parent, emergence of normal developmental milestones after a child is adopted from an
institution, school success among children growing up in poverty or dangerous neighbourhoods,
and mental health in children who experience maltreatment.
Second, resilience is inferred from judgments about what constitutes desirable or “good”
outcomes as well as criteria for measuring adversity or risk, which can vary among cultures and
investigators.2,3,5,14-16 Investigators must define the criteria for positive adaptation, and also the
standards and measures of adversity or risk confronting the child. A child who develops well may
be viewed as adaptive or competent, but not necessarily as manifesting resilience, unless some
explicit or implicit threshold of risk or adversity has been met. It is also clear that there are
multiple criteria by which to judge positive development or success in life; adaptation is inherently
multidimensional and multifaceted. Thus, it is not surprising that definitions and measures have
varied, making it complicated to build a coherent body of knowledge about resilience in
development.
Third, many processes at multiple levels of analysis are likely to be involved in human resilience.1-
4,17,18
To understand resilience, one must understand the complex behavior and development of
living systems in context over time, from “neurons to neighbourhoods”19 and beyond.
Nonetheless, findings from the first generation of resilience research were remarkably consistent,
suggesting the influence of powerful but common adaptive processes.1,3,15
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Research Context
Systematic research on resilience in childhood emerged from studies of vulnerability and risk in
the search for the causes of mental illness.1-4,20 Investigators began to study children with elevated
risk for problems, often due to mental illness or stress in the family, social disadvantages, or
poverty. The goals of pioneering researchers, including Norman Garmezy, Lois Murphy, Michael
Rutter, Arnold Sameroff, and Emmy Werner, required integrative perspectives and collaboration
among developmental and clinical scientists. Such collaborations forged a new science of
resilience in development, while at the same time energizing the rise of developmental
psychopathology.1,15,21 The great insight of these pioneers was recognizing the potential of
resilience research to inform practice and policies aimed at better development among high-risk
children.
Key Research Questions
Developmental studies of resilience often address the following questions:
What accounts for positive development or recovery among children who experience
hazardous circumstances?
What are the most important resilience factors and processes that promote and protect
human development in the context of risk or adversity?
What are effective strategies for building resilience and fostering positive development
among children whose development is threatened by adverse childhood experiences?
Although resilience researchers focus on positive outcomes and their causes, they also
acknowledge the importance of understanding risks and threats to development and how to
prevent, reduce, or eliminate them.
Recent Research Results
There is exciting convergence in developmental research on competence, resilience, behavioural
and emotional problems, brain development and prevention science, all underscoring the
importance of early childhood for building protections into human development at multiple levels,
within the child, the family, the community and their interactions.6-13,22-24 During these foundational
years, it is crucial for children to have sensitive caregiving and stimulation, as well as the clean
water and air, nutrition, healthcare, and other material needs required for healthy development.
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Early foundations of resilience emerge through caregiver-child attachment bonds, interactions
with family and other people, healthy brain development, opportunities to play and explore the
world around them, and many other interactions with the environment. Many learning and self-
control skills develop by the preschool years, and many of these early cognitive and social-
emotional skills are related to the quality of available caregiving.25-28
Effective preventive intervention programs during infancy and preschool years support caregiving
in multiple ways and provide enriched learning environments for children.7,9,29 Such programs
nurture resilience in child development. Early success in school – related to effective care, positive
home-school connections and effective classroom practices – appears to be a key segue to
resilience in childhood, particularly for very disadvantaged children.2 Programs or systems of care
that focus on building competence and strengths in young children and their families, along with
reducing risk and addressing problems early, are yielding promising successes.2,8,9,11,12,30,31
A neurobiology of resilience is also beginning to emerge.17,18,20,29,32-34 New insights into brain
development and plasticity, how stress interacts with development, and the interplay of genes
and experience in shaping development promise to revolutionize the science of resilience and
prevention in early childhood.
There is growing recognition that multisystem threats to human development posed by complex
adversities, such as extreme poverty, natural disaster, pandemics, armed conflict, and systemic
racism or historical trauma, require multisystem thinking together with coordinated preparation
and responses.35-38 As a result there is more attention to preventing and mitigating harmful
adverse experiences in early childhood while also harmonizing investments in resources, and
mobilizing multiple sectors and systems to promote healthy development, particularly among
children at risk due to poverty, trauma, and other adverse circumstances.
Conclusion
Resilience research indicates that during the early childhood years, it is important for children to
have good quality care and opportunities for learning, adequate nutrition, and community support
for families, to facilitate positive development of cognitive, social and self-regulation skills. Young
children with healthy attachment relationships and good internal adaptive resources are very
likely to get off to a good start in life, well equipped with the human and social capital for success
as they enter school and society. Such children typically manifest resilience in the face of
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adversity, as long as their fundamental protective skills and relationships continue to operate and
develop. The greatest threats to young children occur when key protective systems for human
development are harmed or disrupted. In early childhood, it is particularly important that children
have the protections afforded by attachment bonds with competent and loving caregivers, the
stimulation and nutrition required for healthy brain development, opportunities to learn and
experience the pleasure of mastering new skills, and the limit-setting or structure needed to
develop self-control.
Implications
Resilience research, studies of normal development and psychopathology, as well as prevention
science all highlight the importance of early childhood for establishing fundamental protections
afforded children by positive relationships, healthy brain development, good self-regulation skills,
community supports for families, and learning opportunities. A resilience framework for practice
and systems of care has emerged, with an emphasis on building strengths and competence in
children, their families, their relationships, and the communities where they live.2,35-38 It is clear
that many children in modern societies face multiple and accumulating risks that require multiple
protective interventions and comprehensive efforts to prevent or ameliorate risks to children and
their families.2,7,23,36-39 No child is invulnerable and, as risk levels rise, fewer children escape the
developmental consequences of adversity. Early childhood is a crucial window of opportunity for
families and societies to ensure that children have the resources and protections required to
develop the adaptive tools and relationships they will need to engage the future well prepared.
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