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What Is Resilience?. Dr. Gill Windle Research Fellow Dementia Services Development Centre Bangor University 19 th May 2009. Psychological Resilience The individual as a source of resilience.
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What Is Resilience? Dr. Gill Windle Research Fellow Dementia Services Development Centre Bangor University 19th May 2009
Psychological Resilience The individual as a source of resilience • The well-being paradox – how do people maintain well-being when other areas of their lives are less than desirable? Self ratings of health status according to actual levels levels of ill health Community based sample (n=1847 from England, Scotland & Wales aged 50+) Source: ESAW data
Resilience – the ability to recover from or adjust to misfortune or change Personality/psychological resources that enable positive functioning Resilient individuals have been found to possess a range of inner psychological attributes – indicators of resilience Other research that has examined the role of resources such as mastery, self esteem, optimism, has conceptualised these as the basis of reserve capacity that provides a resilient basis in older age (Gallo, Bogart, Vranceanu & Mathews, 2005). Psychological ResilienceDo psychological resources operate as explanatory mechanisms?
Psychological Resilience • Within personality research such constructs are often examined in isolation, and little attention has been given to the possibility that they might share a common basis (Judge, Erez, Thoresen & Bono, 2002). • X2= 346.29, p<0.01 • RMSEA =.04 • CFI = .97 • SRMR=.04 • α = .83 Self Esteem Psychological Resilience Competence Interpersonal Control Windle, G., Markland, D. A., & Woods, B. (2008). Examination of a theoretical model of psychological resilience in older age. Aging & Mental Health 12(3), 285-292.
Psychological resilience and the well-being paradox Interaction between chronic illness and resilience age 60-69 Interaction between material resources and resilience age 50-59 Source: Windle, G., Woods, B., & Markland, D.A. (In Press) Living with ill-health in olderage: the role of a resilient personality. Journal of Happiness Studies. Source: Windle, G. (2006). PhD Thesis.
Limitations • Data is cross sectional • Constraints of secondary data analysis • Theoretically plausible, but represents just one of many approaches to resilience in older age • Older people with cognitive impairment/dementia not included
Planned Research Maintaining Function and Well-Being: A Longitudinal Cohort Study (ESRC, £3.9m) • How do the characteristics of the resilient differ from the non-resilient? • What is the influence of cognitive impairment on the relationship of resilience and well-being? • Does resilience at the initial assessment predict later adaptation regardless of the presence of cognitive impairment? • Do earlier life experiences impact on the development of resilience?