JACK P. SHONKOFF:
Resilience is the result
of a highly interactive
process between
individual characteristics in
the person and the environment
in which that individual
has developed.
PHILIP A. FISHER: It's
really the counterbalancing
of difficult things that may
exist in the child's life
with positive things, that
occur within the family but even
positive things that may
exist in the community.
W. THOMAS BOYCE: An easy way
of thinking about resilience
is like a scale with a
fulcrum in the middle of it.
And there are things on
both sides of that scale.
Experiences of both bad
things or good things.
NARRATOR: Our genes
shape where the fulcrum
is positioned at the start.
W. THOMAS BOYCE: There
are certain genes
that make a child more sensitive
to the effects of maltreatment
or parental neglect or
witnessing violence.
PHILIP A. FISHER: The fulcrum
may start out kind of more
towards one side or more
towards the other side,
and that's gonna make a big
difference in terms of how much
these subsequent events
affect things positively or negatively.
NARRATOR: Science tells us that
experiences move the fulcrum,
for better or for worse.
NATHAN A. FOX: Even though
we are born with genes,
genes will respond
differently to
certain environmental
situations as opposed to others.
W. THOMAS BOYCE: What the genes
are actually doing are turning
up or turning down the
expression of chemicals
and circuits in the brain and
the circuitry in the entire
body that govern our responses
to stress, to anxiety,
to depressive symptoms.
NARRATOR: When positive
experiences accumulate,
and children learn
coping skills that
help them to manage
stress, the fulcrum
can slide so the scale tilts
toward positive outcomes
more easily.
That's what
resilience is all about.
JACK P. SHONKOFF:
There is always
an adult or more
than one adult who
is key to providing
that relationship that
helps to build resilience.
 
