APA Citation
Masten, A., & Barnes, A. (2018). Resilience in children: Developmental perspectives. *Children*, 5(7), 98. https://doi.org/10.3390/children5070098
Summary
Developmental psychologist Ann Masten and colleague Andrew Barnes synthesize decades of research on resilience in children facing adversity. They define resilience as positive adaptation despite significant threats to development—not an extraordinary trait but the result of ordinary adaptive systems working well. Key protective factors include: close relationships with competent caregivers, effective cognitive and self-regulation skills, motivation to learn and succeed, supportive communities, and cultural practices that promote healthy development. Resilience is dynamic, developing over time through interaction between the child and their environment.
Why This Matters for Survivors
If you grew up with narcissistic parents, understanding resilience research offers hope. Resilience isn't a rare gift some people have; it emerges from ordinary protective factors—and many of these can be developed in adulthood. One caring adult, connection to community, developing self-regulation skills—these factors protected some children and remain available to survivors rebuilding their lives.
What This Research Establishes
Resilience is ordinary magic. Positive adaptation despite adversity emerges from normal human adaptive systems—attachment, self-regulation, cognitive development—functioning well. It’s not rare heroism but common human capacity.
Protective factors are identifiable. Close caregiving relationships, cognitive skills, self-regulation, motivation, community support, and cultural resources consistently predict resilience across diverse adversities.
Resilience is dynamic. It develops over time through interaction between individual and environment. People can become more or less resilient depending on circumstances and supports. It’s not a fixed trait.
Effects cascade across domains. Success in one area promotes success in others; problems in one area predict problems elsewhere. Interventions at any point can start positive or interrupt negative cascades.
Why This Matters for Survivors
Your survival isn’t random. If you survived narcissistic parenting with some capacity for healthy relationships, self-regulation, or achievement, resilience research identifies why: something protected you. Perhaps a grandparent, a teacher, your own cognitive abilities, a community connection.
Protective factors can still be built. The factors that protect children—supportive relationships, self-regulation skills, community connection, sense of meaning—can be developed in adulthood. Recovery involves building what you may not have had.
One caring adult matters. Research consistently shows one stable, supportive relationship can make the difference. If you had one person who saw you, believed in you, or provided safety, that may explain your resilience. And you can still find or become that person for yourself or others.
Resilience doesn’t mean invulnerable. If you function well despite your history, you’re not unaffected—you’re resilient. You carry effects of what happened while also demonstrating positive adaptation. Both are true.
Clinical Implications
Assess for protective factors. Understanding what protected this patient—despite adverse experiences—illuminates both their resources and intervention targets. Build on existing strengths.
Promote relationship supports. Given the consistent importance of caring relationships, connecting patients with supportive others (therapy, groups, mentors, community) is intervention, not just nicety.
Develop self-regulation skills. Self-regulation predicts resilience across contexts. Teaching emotion regulation, stress management, and executive function skills builds resilience capacity.
Leverage cascade effects. Success in one domain promotes success in others. Starting where the patient can succeed creates positive cascades rather than overwhelming them with global change demands.
How This Research Is Used in the Book
Masten’s resilience research appears in chapters on development and recovery:
“Ann Masten’s research reveals that resilience isn’t rare heroism—it’s ‘ordinary magic’ emerging from normal human adaptive systems functioning well. The one caring adult, the self-regulation skills, the community connections that protected some children of narcissists can still be developed by adult survivors. Resilience research offers hope: the factors that enable positive adaptation despite adversity can be cultivated at any age. Recovery isn’t just about processing trauma; it’s about building the capacities that support thriving.”
Historical Context
Resilience research emerged in the 1970s when researchers noticed that some children from high-risk backgrounds developed well despite adversity. Early work focused on identifying these “invulnerable” children. Subsequent research—including Masten’s decades-long contributions—shifted understanding toward resilience as dynamic process rather than fixed trait.
This 2018 article synthesizes current understanding: resilience as positive adaptation involving multiple systems (individual, family, community), developing dynamically over time, and emerging from ordinary rather than extraordinary processes. The shift from identifying resilient individuals to promoting protective factors for all at-risk children has major intervention implications.
Further Reading
- Masten, A.S. (2014). Ordinary Magic: Resilience in Development. Guilford Press.
- Masten, A.S. (2001). Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56(3), 227-238.
- Werner, E.E., & Smith, R.S. (2001). Journeys from Childhood to Midlife: Risk, Resilience, and Recovery. Cornell University Press.
- Luthar, S.S. (Ed.). (2003). Resilience and Vulnerability: Adaptation in the Context of Childhood Adversities. Cambridge University Press.
About the Author
Ann S. Masten, PhD is Regents Professor and Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development. She has studied resilience in children for over 40 years.
Masten is known for reframing resilience as "ordinary magic"—not extraordinary talent but the normal operation of human adaptive systems. Her work has influenced both research and intervention, emphasizing that protective factors can be promoted.
Historical Context
This 2018 article synthesizes decades of resilience research that transformed understanding from "invulnerable children" to recognizing resilience as dynamic adaptation involving both individual factors and environmental supports. Early research focused on identifying resilient children; current approaches focus on promoting protective factors for all children at risk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Resilience is positive adaptation in the context of significant adversity—doing well despite substantial threats to development. It's not a fixed trait but a dynamic process involving the interaction between individual characteristics and environmental supports over time.
Masten argues resilience emerges from 'ordinary magic'—not exceptional traits but normal human adaptive systems functioning well. When basic systems are protected (attachment, cognitive development, self-regulation), positive adaptation often follows. Resilience is more common than early research assumed.
Major protective factors include: close relationships with competent caregivers, effective cognitive and self-regulation skills, positive self-perceptions, motivation to succeed, supportive community connections, and cultural practices promoting healthy development. These work together across systems.
Research consistently shows that having at least one stable, caring adult—parent, grandparent, teacher, mentor—predicts resilience across diverse adversities. This relationship provides safety, modeling, support, and a template for future relationships. It doesn't have to be a parent.
Yes. While childhood resilience research focuses on children, the protective factors—supportive relationships, self-regulation skills, community connection, sense of meaning—can be developed at any age. Adult survivors can build the capacities that support resilience.
Some children of narcissists are protected by: a non-narcissistic parent or relative, a teacher or mentor, strong self-regulation abilities, community connections (school, church, sports), or cultural resources. Understanding these factors helps explain differential outcomes among siblings and guides intervention.
Resilience research shows cascading effects: success in one domain promotes success in others. A caring teacher leads to school engagement, which builds skills and confidence, which enables relationships. Conversely, problems can cascade negatively. Interventions can start positive cascades.
Early research used terms like 'invulnerable children,' implying some kids can't be harmed. Current understanding recognizes resilience as relative and contextualized: resilient individuals still carry effects of adversity. They function well despite difficulties, not without them.