Resilient Children

I just got through reading this great book entitled The Crystal Castle by Jeannette Walls. A I read it, I not only thought of what a great book this would be for anyone interested in Human Growth and Development but also of a concept known as the resilient child.

The book is an autobiographical account of the author and her siblings as they struggled (understatement) through their many challenges including poverty, neglect, alcoholism, and a set of eccentric parents. The Walls children were resourceful, intelligent, and “scrappy” as they endured the many privations and humiliations of their young lives. Amazingly, they all triumphed and are now successful adults.

How can this be? While pondering this, I kept thinking of the parents and their great love for their children. Despite their personal inadequacies, the love for their four children was strong and evident, and it occurred to me that LOVE was the X factor (or one of them). This morning as I was perusing my new edition to Pierce Howard’s The Owner’s Manual to the Brain, I was reminded of the resilient child. Howard lists two factors, the first being the child’s relationships with prosocial adults, whether they are in the immediate family or not. The second factor is the possession of good intellectual functioning, including problem solving ability and language comprehension and vocabulary. The Walls children fit these criteria perfectly.

I love it when I can see a real life application of a psychological principle. I’m hoping that someone will share an example of a resilient child or perhaps just offer an opinion or observation on the subject.