Fostering Resilience in Children: The Essential Role of Healthcare Professionals and Families

In our complex society, stressful or negative life experiences have typically been considered to induce a substantial change from one set of living conditions to another. Life remodeling, resulting from adversities, involves significant challenges because of the need to adapt to new circumstances. That may often impair the ability to cope with new life settings, exposing the risk of clinical distress and possible long-term psychological illnesses, resulting in symptoms of depression, anxiety, fatigue and stress. Children and adolescents who have suffered adversities are considered to be at risk of failing to succeed.2 There has been an increasing attention toward understanding the condition of children and adolescents faced with adversities. Several studies have assessed children’s ability to manage their well-being and develop resilience to adapt and cope with unfavorable events. The scientific literature in this area is expanding, however, there is limited integration of the findings into proactive strategies designed to relieve the impact of adverse experiences suffered by individuals during their developmental years. The process of developing resilience in children and adolescents has progressively become of particular interest to healthcare professionals and families because of its implications for the health of children and adolescents they care for. The authors of this commentary are part of a working group on social pediatrics supported by European national pediatric societies, members of the European Paediatric Association/Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations. Herein we outline the relationship between resilience and health to further emphasize the joint role that healthcare professionals and families may play in identifying the sources and degree of stress experienced by children. This would facilitate the ability of children and adolescents to discover and use their own strengths and resources to better cope with adversities, and most importantly to reduce the possible long-term effects of negative events in life.