title: Resilient children, psychological wellness, and primary prevention.
abstract: The concept of heightened resilience or invulnerability in young profoundly stressed children is developed in terms of its implications for a psychology of wellness and for primary prevention in mental health. Relevant literature is reviewed, a skeletal model for studying resilience is outlined, and needed research directions are considered. The latter include expansion of the construct's nomological definitional net, inquiry into the antecedents and determinants of resilience, and the application of such generative information to frame preventive interventions for young, profoundly stressed children.
authors.affiliation: University of Rochester.
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Cowen
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Work
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D008603:Mental Health; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011322:Primary Prevention