Handbook of Adult Resilience

by John W. Reich PhD (Editor), Alex J. Zautra PhD (Editor), John Stuart Hall PhD (Editor)

Overview

What enables people to bounce back from stressful experiences? How do certain individuals maintain a sense of purpose and direction over the long term, even in the face of adversity? This is the first book to move beyond childhood and adolescence to explore resilience across the lifespan. Coverage ranges from genetic and physiological factors through personal, family, organizational, and community processes. Contributors examine how resilience contributes to health and well-being across the adult life cycle; why—and what happens when—resilience processes fail; ethnic and cultural dimensions of resilience; and ways to enhance adult resilience, including reviews of exemplary programs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781606234891
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	01/04/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	540
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

John W. Reich, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University (ASU). His work has focused on the application of social psychological concepts in understanding societal issues and the development of interventions for improving individuals' well-being. Dr. Reich and the other two coeditors are members of the ASU Resilience Solutions Group, which was the source of the development of this handbook. Alex J. Zautra, PhD, is Foundation Professor of Clinical Psychology at ASU. His research, clinical work, teaching, and publications explore fundamental mind–body issues such as the role of positive emotion in health and the sources of resilience within the person that restore health and well-being following challenges from stressors at home, at work, and in community life. Dr. Zautra's current research focuses on resilience to chronic pain and resilience as people age. John Stuart Hall, PhD, is Professor of Public Affairs and Public Service at ASU. A founder and former Director of ASU's School of Public Affairs and its Center for Urban Studies, and Project Director of over 40 large-scale funded and often interdisciplinary urban research projects, Dr. Hall has specialized in linking the University with pressing community public policy and governance issues. His current research interests include building resilience in communities and urban regions, and healthy aging. 

Table of Contents

I. Resilience at Many Levels of Analysis 1. Resilience: A New Definition of Health for People and Communities, Alex J. Zautra, John Stuart Hall, and Kate E. MurrayII. Basic Dimensions of Resilience A. Biological Dimensions of Resilience2. Psychobiological Mechanisms of Resilience to Stress, Adriana Feder, Eric J. Nestler, Maren Westphal, and Dennis S. Charney3. Genes and Environments: How They Work Together to Promote Resilience, Kathryn Lemery-ChalfantB. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Models of Resilience4. Positive Emotions as a Basic Building Block of Resilience in Adulthood, Anthony D. Ong, C. S. Bergeman, and Sy-Miin Chow5. Personal Intelligence and Resilience: Recovery in the Shadow of Broken Connections, John D. Mayer and Michael A. Faber6. The Resilient Personality, Andrew E. Skodol7. Resilience in Response to Loss, Kathrin Boerner and Daniela Jopp8. Psychopathology as Dysfunctional Self-Regulation: When Resilience Resources Are Compromised, Paul Karoly9. Self-Complexity: A Source of Resilience?, Eshkol Rafaeli and Atara Hiller10. Anchored by Faith: Religion as a Resilience Factor, Kenneth I. Pargament and Jeremy CummingsC. Resilience across the Lifespan11. Resilience over the Lifespan: Developmental Perspectives on Resistance, Recovery, and Transformation, Ann S. Masten and Margaret O’Dougherty Wright12. Early Adversity and Resilience in Emerging Adulthood, Linda J. Luecken and Jenna L. Gress13. Resilience to Potential Trauma: Toward a Lifespan Approach, Anthony D. Mancini and George A. BonannoD. Social Dimensions of Resilience14. Resilience in Adolescence: Overcoming Neighborhood Disadvantage, Marc A. Zimmerman and Allison B. Brenner15. Social Support and Growth Following Adversity, Vicki S. Helgeson and Lindsey LopezE. Organizational and Public Policy Dimensions of Resilience 16. Building Organizational Resilience and Adaptive Management, Janet Denhardt and Robert Denhardt17. Indicators of Community Resilience: What Are They, Why Bother?, John Stuart Hall and Alex J. ZautraIII. Ethnic and Cultural Dimensions of Resilience18. Cultural Adaptation and Resilience: Controversies, Issues, and Emerging Models, Felipe González Castro and Kate E. Murray19. Cultural Dimensions of Resilience among Adults, Michael Ungar IV. Interventions for Enhancing Resilience20. The Emergence of Capacity-Building Programs and Models of Resilience, Martha Kent and Mary C. Davis21. Boosting Happiness, Buttressing Resilience: Results from Cognitive and Behavioral Interventions, Sonja Lyubomirsky and Matthew D. Della Porta22. Positive Affect at the Onset of Chronic Illness: Planting the Seeds of Resilience, Judith Tedlie Moskowitz23. Asset-Based Strategies for Building Resilient Communities, John P. Kretzmann24. Health in a New Key: Fostering Resilience through Philanthropy, Roger A. Hughes

Interviews

Personality, social, developmental, health, and clinical psychologists; psychiatrists; advanced students in these fields. May serve as a text in advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level courses.

Editorial Reviews

"The book's value lies in its evidence-based consideration of resilience across a range of domains and at many levels of analysis....The book is well organized, coherent, and accessible. Also, the concept of resilience travels well across subject boundaries, providing obvious linkages between seemingly disparate topics. The book's holistic approach fills a big gap in the literature and it should prove a valuable resource for students, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers with theoretical or applied interest in this fascinating and increasingly important topic."

The Psychologist

"The coverage of topics is comprehensive, and the organization of the book is useful to the reader in that there is a logical sequence going from the individual (biologic) to the social....It covers a wide range of topics on resilience, including not only resilience of individuals but also of communities and neighborhoods, and even cities. It raises issues and future research concerns, and the chapters are well written, with fluidity and authority. Furthermore, whereas most of the literature on resilience so far has been on children, this is the first handbook to focus on resilience in individuals of adult age, which makes it an important addition to the literature....Highly recommended to a wide variety of individuals, from academic and practicing psychologists to social workers, physicians, stress researchers, sociologists, occupational therapists, community workers, and many others interested in understanding the development of healthy personas and in helping individuals coping with loss and adversity."

PsycCRITIQUES

"Framed brilliantly, this book is the mother lode of scientific knowledge on a profoundly important topic. The editors recognize that understanding why some individuals prevail in the face of adversity—and even flourish—must encompass numerous influences, from personal qualities to social networks and communities. Importantly, the final section presents resilience-promoting interventions designed to build the strengths required to surmount major life difficulties. It will be the definitive source on adult resilience for years to come."—Carol D. Ryff, PhD, Director, Institute on Aging, and Professor of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"Resilience is a psychological concept that has excited many investigators and practitioners, but it has been difficult to define clearly or measure reliably. This handbook gathers together the clearest thinkers in the field to tackle this idea from biological, emotional, cognitive, developmental, social, and even policy perspectives. There is no other book available with this kind of reach, and it should be on the shelf of anyone contemplating research on resilience or for whom the idea of resilience helps to organize clinical and community-based interventions. This volume includes a fabulous group of contributors writing at the cutting edge of the field."—Peter Salovey, PhD, Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology, Yale University

"Scholars and students alike will find the Handbook of Adult Resilience to be invaluable. Simply stated, this is the most important book to date on the topic of resilience."—John T. Cacioppo, PhD, Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor and Director, Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, University of Chicago

"I have used the Handbook of Adult Resilience as the main text in my course on Psychological Resilience at Harvard for two years. Both graduate- and undergraduate-level students have found the text to be clear, informative, up-to-date, and interesting. I thank the editors for bringing together the best researchers in the field to provide a comprehensive overview of resilience in a single volume."—Shelley Carson, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Harvard University

"This text offers a balanced examination of resilience at multiple levels of psychological analysis. Students appreciate the direct, approachable writing and the comprehensive, current understanding of the topic. I rely heavily on this text in my teaching."—Jackson Rainer, PhD, ABPP, Director of Clinical Training and Professor of Psychology, Georgia Southern University

From the Publisher

Provid[es] readers with a thorough, thoughtful, and varied treatise of psychological resilience in adulthood....Laudably, the volume includes perspectives that run the gamut of the behavioral sciences, including biological, cognitive, behavioral, and social psychology, as well as applied sub-disciplines spanning organizational, cultural, and health contexts. Such heterogeneity is very much a strength of the present volume….The volume contains several freestanding allusions to intriguing research findings and insightful observations, which further enhance the readers’ experience….The volume represents a hugely valuable resource for researchers and policy-makers interested in notions of resilience and their applicability to real-life contexts. The editors have successfully captured the vibrancy and diversity of this research area, and have certainly laid convincing groundwork for a case to be made that resilience research represents a coherent and viable subdiscipline-in-waiting.

Journal of Positive Psychology

Reviewer: Gary B Kaniuk, Psy.D. (Cermak Health Services)
Description: This book describes adult resilience — how people are able to rebound from difficulties to live productive, rewarding lives — across the lifespan, discussing research and interventions.
Purpose: According to the editors, "this handbook fully extends the currency of resilience concepts for the first time from basic biological processes through childhood to the domains of youth and adulthood, to broader societal variables in leadership and community-level processes.
Audience: They suggest the book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in personality, social, and developmental psychology, health psychology, clinical and community psychology, and psychiatry, as well as graduate students in courses on the psychology of adulthood. The editors are professors of psychology and public affairs and public service at Arizona State University.
Features: The book starts with an introduction to the topic of resilience, defining it as "an outcome of successful adaptation to adversity." The book is organized to first address biological processes, then personal attributes, neighborhood disadvantages, and community support. The authors discuss biological processes such as neurochemical stress response and genetic polymorphism, as well as the interaction of genetics and environment. They describe personal attributes such as an integrated self, good interpersonal skills, and positive coping strategies as characteristic of the resilient personality. Psychopathology is discussed in terms of dysfunctional self-regulation, the inability to pursue multiple goals over an extended period of time and within different contexts. Resiliency across the lifespan is addressed, especially in terms of early trauma and its effect in adulthood. The authors then discuss living in dangerous and/or impoverished neighborhoods and overcoming the odds to become successful. Ethnic and cultural issues are important variables and the authors describe resiliency among immigrant communities. Lastly, they detail interventions to increase psychological resources in both individuals and communities. The book uses helpful figures and tables and includes an author and subject index.
Assessment: This excellent book is full of research findings that are foundational to the theories and interventions undergirding personality characteristics of resilient individuals and potential interventions. The authors walk readers through the developmental precursors and show how resiliency can be maintained across the lifespan, even in the lives of high-risk individuals. This well-written book is a must-read for anyone interested in this topic.

Doody Reviews

Reviewer: Gary B Kaniuk, Psy.D.(Cermak Health Services)
Description: This book describes adult resilience — how people are able to rebound from difficulties to live productive, rewarding lives — across the lifespan, discussing research and interventions.
Purpose: According to the editors, "this handbook fully extends the currency of resilience concepts for the first time from basic biological processes through childhood to the domains of youth and adulthood, to broader societal variables in leadership and community-level processes."
Audience: They suggest the book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in personality, social, and developmental psychology, health psychology, clinical and community psychology, and psychiatry, as well as graduate students in courses on the psychology of adulthood. The editors are professors of psychology and public affairs and public service at Arizona State University.
Features: The book starts with an introduction to the topic of resilience, defining it as "an outcome of successful adaptation to adversity." The book is organized to first address biological processes, then personal attributes, neighborhood disadvantages, and community support. The authors discuss biological processes such as neurochemical stress response and genetic polymorphism, as well as the interaction of genetics and environment. They describe personal attributes such as an integrated self, good interpersonal skills, and positive coping strategies as characteristic of the resilient personality. Psychopathology is discussed in terms of dysfunctional self-regulation, the inability to pursue multiple goals over an extended period of time and within different contexts. Resiliency across the lifespan is addressed, especially in terms of early trauma and its effect in adulthood. The authors then discuss living in dangerous and/or impoverished neighborhoods and overcoming the odds to become successful. Ethnic and cultural issues are important variables and the authors describe resiliency among immigrant communities. Lastly, they detail interventions to increase psychological resources in both individuals and communities. The book uses helpful figures and tables and includes an author and subject index.
Assessment: This excellent book is full of research findings that are foundational to the theories and interventions undergirding personality characteristics of resilient individuals and potential interventions. The authors walk readers through the developmental precursors and show how resiliency can be maintained across the lifespan, even in the lives of high-risk individuals. This well-written book is a must-read for anyone interested in this topic.

Doody's Review Service