What makes the difference: Promoting resilience in school-aged students

Introduction: Resilience is an important aspect of human development. But little is known in terms of what tenants are fundamental to promoting or developing resilience. The following paper using a developmental paradigm argues that: developmental assets, constructive capabilities, and psychological competencies are core tenants of resilience.

Methods: A total of 120,036 Australian students (primary and secondary) from all parts of the country completed a resilience survey. All participants were school age students whose ages ranged from 7 to 18 years. Surveys were conducted over a three-year period from 2013 to 2016.

Findings/Implications: This study is the first of its kind, accounting for a variety of different developmental assets, strengths, and resources; and furthermore, making the case for the contribution of these constructs toward developing the concept of resilience.