Stress, Risk, and Resilience in Children and Adolescents: Processes, Mechanisms, and Interventions - Hardcover

"...this is a unique work that provides a comprehensive overview of the research accomplished to date on stress, coping, and resilience in children and adolescents....it provides a foundation for pediatric psychologists as they attempt to understand the unique stressors associated with illness, disease, and other adversities that children are compelled to endure. The book is required reading for any pediatric psychologist or scholar who is interested in a program of research on stress, coping, and resilience." Ronald Brown and Joan E. Donegan, Journal of Pediatrics

Stress, Risk, and Resilience in Children and Adolescents recognizes the complexity of the developmental processes that impact on coping and resilience and the importance of sociocultural factors. In this respect, the relation between a stressor and an outcome depends on many factors, including the individual's previous experience, perception of the event, coping skills and social supports. In turn, each of these factors displays meaningful variation by developmental status, social background, and cultural context. The examination of individual differences in vulnerability to stress and risk factors has grown substantially over the past decade as it has become clearer that some children do, in fact, 'beat the odds.' In order to understand why some children succumb to even modest stress while others remain resilient in the face of what appear to be overwhelming stressors, research has increasingly examined the processes and mechanisms by which children of different ages deal with adverse life experiences, rather than merely studying the stressors themselves. Many problem behaviors have multiple causes, and most children with one problem behavior also have others. The co-occurrence and/or interrelatedness of risk factors and problem behaviors is, therefore, an important area of research.