Abstract
Consideration of any resilience-enhancing intervention must begin with a working definition of “resilience,” for a specific population, in order to identify what needs to be enhanced, the rationale for the intervention and how to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. This chapter will briefly discuss various definitions of resilience and introduce measurement issues associated with the assessment of changes in resilience. Over the past 50+ years, definitions of resiliency have been numerous and research has operated at different levels of analysis, each with its own language and caveats. This complexity has made standardized use and application of the construct more difficult. According to a critical review by Wald, Taylor, Asmundson, Jang, & Stapleton (2006), there are several existing definitions of resilience that share in common a number of features all relating to human strengths, some type of disruption and growth, adaptive coping, and positive outcomes following exposure to adversity (e.g., Bonanno, 2004; Connor et al., 2003; Friborg, Hjemdal, Rosenvinge, & Martinussen, 2003; 2005; Masten et al., 1999; Richardson, 2002). There are also a number of distinctions made in attempts to define this construct. For example, some investigators assume that resilience is located “within the person” (e.g., Block & Block, 1980; Davidson et al., 2005). Other investigators (e.g., Friborg et al., 2003; Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000; Masten, 2001) propose that there are multiple sources and pathways to resiliency including social context (e.g., family, external support systems). Luthar et al. (2000) have provided clarification by distinguishing between resilience as a dynamic developmental process or phenomenon that involves the interaction of personal attributes with environmental circumstances and resiliency (Block & Block, 1980) as a personality characteristic of the individual.
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Prince-Embury, S. (2014). Review of Resilience Conceptual and Assessment Issues. In: Prince-Embury, S., Saklofske, D. (eds) Resilience Interventions for Youth in Diverse Populations. The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0542-3_2
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