Abstract:
Considerable research in the United States has been conducted into childhood resiliency - the capacity some children have to successfully adapt in the face of adversity, and to develop social competence despite exposure to severe stressors. In this paper, we present a brief review of the most influential literature in the area and identify a number of tentative and preliminary insights into the nature of childhood resiliency, based on data collected during the first two years of a longitudinal study of children deemed to exhibit resilient behaviours or non-resilient behaviours in mid-1997.