Factsheet

Whatisit? Resilience is the capacity to maintain or re establish our mental health and wellbeing in the face of signicant changes or challenges. Resili enceimpactsourthoughts,emo ons,behaviours andsocialinterac ons.Thisincludeshowwellwe are able to respond in a par cular situa on and controlouremo ons. Our experience of resilience is inuenced by a range of factors including biological (e.g. temper ament), psychological (e.g. beliefs about our self) and environmental (e.g. the world in which we live). What is regarded as resilient behaviour changes over me and is dependent on a per sons developmental age and stage. For example, resilient behaviour in a four year old child might include being able to cope with a change to their daily rou ne in their child care centre such as havingadierentcarerfortheday. Resilience can lead to greater academic achieve ments, posi ve rela onships and socially appro priate behaviour. It may also reduce our risk of mental health problems and improve our mental healthoutcomesinthefuture. Whyisitimportant? Challenges and adversi es are part of life. Our capacitytoeec velycopeisimportantformain tainingour mentalhealthandwellbeingthrough outlife. Resolving personal problems and challenging events provides opportuni es for new experienc es,toacceptchallenges,copewithnega veemo ons and work towards our goals. Through build ing and developing our resilience, we may be be er able to cope with lifes challenges and ad versi es.

Resilience

Whatcaneducatorsandcarersdo? Educatorsandcarerscanpromoteandsupport childrensresilienceby: establishingmeaningfulrela onships; crea ngsafeandsuppor veenvironments; providingchildrenwithindividuala en on; suppor ngchildrentoachievetheirgoals; helpingchildrentodeveloptheirproblem solvingandcopingskills; modellingappropriateresponsestodierent situa onsthroughtheirthinking,emo ons, behavioursandinterac onswithothers; providingandenforcingclearandconsistent guidelinesandboundariesforbehaviour; allowingchildrentoexpressawiderangeof emo ons; helpingchildrentoiden fyandlabeltheir feelings;and providingopportuni esforsuccess. Wheneducatorsandcarersimplementstrategies intheirdailyprac cethatpromotechildrensresil ience,theyarehelpingchildrentobeinabe er posi ontothinkandactabstractly,reec vely andexibilitythroughoutlife. Furtherinforma on Cefai,C.(2008).Promong resilience in the classroom: a guide to developing pupils emoonal and cognive skills. Philadelphia,PA: JessicaKingsleyPublishings. EarvolinoRamirez,M.(2007).Resilience:ACon ceptAnalysis.Nursing Forum, 42,2,pp.73 82. ResilienceNet:www.resilnet.uiuc.edu

Apublica onoftheResponseAbilityini a ve:www.responseability.org

CommonwealthofAustralia2013