An important part of mental well-being in young people is being able to cope with unexpected changes and challenges in life – what we call resilience. Social and emotional wellbeing interventions designed to support adolescents are becoming more and more popular, but poor concepts of resilience mean that these interventions may not be meeting their needs.
The research collaboration between the Faculty of Health and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences seeks to address the complexity of fostering resilience in young people and assess the value and limitations of existing interventions. Using data from the WHO Health Behaviour In School Aged Children (HBSC) collaborative cross-national survey, the research takes an empirical approach to gain a more sophisticated understanding of resilience.
Associate Professor Nick Hopwood from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences applies an educational perspective to investigate what it takes to learn to be resilient in the context of dynamic social relationships, situations, and available responses.
“Views of resilience that see it as a property of an individual that is the same regardless of the situation have long been critiqued, but traces of this approach are still evident in many places. Our concern is that some social and emotional wellbeing programs are missing an important piece of the puzzle,” said Associate Professor Hopwood.