Current Pediatric Research

Acquired Resilience (AR) in children and adolescents following an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) is a developmental phenomenon that psychologists have faced difficulty in operationalizing within research analyses. The lack of standardization in the scientific literature has prompted efforts to identify and classify physical, psychological, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions of AR, in the effort to streamline future research investigating targeted solutions for improving AR in marginalized communities. This paper aims to explore difficulties of operationalization behind Acquired Resilience (AR) in the literature and propose targeted counseling solutions based on the analysis.

Adopting a historical, retrospective perspective on prominent psychological research in pioneering the field of AR research, it was considered that the multidimensionality of resilience, which varied based on the trauma observed and the cultural group to which the individual belonged, prevented an accurate and concise operationalization of the phenomenon.

Furthermore, it was demonstrated that familial support groups, as well as school systems, contributed to the development of resilience in individuals. Based on these results, a resilience counseling service and a website platform was proposed to raise awareness about best practices of improving resiliency.

It was concluded that psychologists must first use the available evidence on resilience to find a quantifiable operationalization of resilience that does not compromise its multidimensionality. After this task, psychological research on resilience will be less subjective and more standardized. In doing so, the findings may point toward more valuable information that can be disseminated to the public, such as through resilience counseling services and media awareness initiatives.

Author(s): Ajay Macherla

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