A new model of resilience Professor Gin Malhi and Erica Bell
ABSTRACT
WHAT IS ADVERSITY?
This article provides a summary of our
When we consider adversity, we think of
model of resilience and how it develops.
a challenge or obstacle to be addressed
It stems from our work in adults and
and hopefully overcome. Thus, the
young people and has been informed
concept of adversity is necessarily broad
by research we have conducted
and can include stressors ranging from
within Pymble over the past decade.
the psychosocial (interpersonal conflicts
It is therefore particularly relevant to
such as bullying, parental conflict and
children and adolescents as they move
divorce), physical (illness and injury),
through critical developmental phases .
financial (poverty) among others6.
Importantly, our model of resilience
Importantly, the severity of adversity can
regards mild adversity as a necessary
vary significantly, and individuals can
ingredient for its development and
experience a multitude of stressors that
suggests that experiencing adversity
vary in terms of their impact, from minor
assists in fortifying an individual’s
stressors to traumatic experiences.
resilience. Generating a comprehensive
Therefore, there is no strict criteria for
model of resilience is important,
adversity, and the term includes all
as possessing a robust resource
manner of challenges and stressors that
of resilience helps to prevent the
an individual may experience and may
development of a range of physical and
or may not be able to overcome.
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psychological problems that may come about after experiencing adversity.
WHAT IS RESILIENCE? Adversity is stressful and this is associated with poorer mental and physical health outcomes. But despite this, not all individuals who experience stress (even if it is severe and prolonged) develop these problems and, in fact, up to two-thirds of individuals that experience mild adversity remain relatively unscathed2. It is this ability to withstand some degree of stress that is what we term resilience.
increasingly stressed, and unable to cope. This can lead to the development of emotional or behavioural symptoms, which may lead to physical or mental illness7. The model of resilience outlined below details how this may occur, but it is important to note that this model does not state that having a mental illness means a person lacks resilience. In this adversity-driven model of resilience, adversity can assist in building a robust reserve of resilience8, but the emergence of mental illness can occur despite this, due to the experience of
acknowledge that resilience is dynamic
significant adversity, or through a person
and multi-faceted, rather than being
being disadvantaged when constructing
a static trait that is ‘predetermined’
their stress-response systems 9.
in each individual . This means that resilience is thought to be determined by a combination of both intrinsic (genes and personality) and extrinsic (environmental) factors, and the interactions between these variables 4, 5. Illuminate Research and Innovation | Edition 6 2021
it may lead to an individual becoming
Recent models of resilience
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When adversity is severe or prolonged,
