Integrating and synthesizing adversity and resilience knowledge and action: The ICARE model.

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences affect our bodies, brains, and behavior. Fortunately, decades of developmental science point to nurturing relationships and supportive resources that can counter the negative effects of ACEs. This article presents a model that incorporates developmental, clinical, public health, and biological science and describes potential developmental trajectories of both risk and resilience resulting from early life experiences. Interventions that promote resilience and recovery are described.

The Intersection of Depressive Symptoms, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Protective Factors Among Adolescents: Epidemiological Evidence from Minnesota, 2016 and 2019

“…In sum, in support of similar calls to action (Auerbach & Miller, 2018 ; Hawkins et al, 2012 ; Hays-Grudo et al, 2021 ), our findings offer the key implication that state public health agencies should emphasize strategies that focus on tracking and promoting cumulative protective factors among youth. Public health efforts need to focus on maintaining and establishing capacity (internally in public health departments and state public health infrastructure, as well as externally in local communities) to document and disseminate prevalence of multiple protective factors.…”

“…Another key point of overlap between resilience research and the DAF concerns cumulative protection, that is, the presence of multiple protective factors in an individual's life (Hays-Grudo & Morris, 2020;Hays-Grudo et al, 2021;Sesma et al, 2013;Wright et al, 2013). Research on the DAF consistently shows that the power of assets lies in the cumulative pile-up of effects across multiple contexts (Sesma et al, 2013).…”

“…The DAF contends that multiple assets can be integrated into a single prevalence estimate that captures cumulative assets, or the number of assets present in an individual's life, helping local public health agencies consider a range of factors rather than attempting to prioritize a single asset to track. A growing area of research takes seminal developmental work (e.g., Cicchetti et al, 2000;Masten, 2001;Rutter, 1987;Sameroff, 1975;Werner & Smith, 1992), and expands it by measuring and assessing the impact of cumulative protective factors among youth (Bethell et al, 2019;Hays-Grudo et al, 2021;Morris et al, 2021;Syvertsen et al, 2019). This research shows that cumulative protective factors can buffer against the deleterious effects of ACEs and promote healthy youth development (Hays-Grudo et al, 2021;Syvertsen et al, 2019;Morris et al, 2021;Bethell et al, 2019).…”

“…A growing area of research takes seminal developmental work (e.g., Cicchetti et al, 2000;Masten, 2001;Rutter, 1987;Sameroff, 1975;Werner & Smith, 1992), and expands it by measuring and assessing the impact of cumulative protective factors among youth (Bethell et al, 2019;Hays-Grudo et al, 2021;Morris et al, 2021;Syvertsen et al, 2019). This research shows that cumulative protective factors can buffer against the deleterious effects of ACEs and promote healthy youth development (Hays-Grudo et al, 2021;Syvertsen et al, 2019;Morris et al, 2021;Bethell et al, 2019). Moreover, this research indicates that the interaction of ACEs and cumulative protective factors plays a pivotal role in adolescent health, as risk for poor health and developmental outcomes is highest for those who report high ACEs and few protective factors (Morris et al, 2021;Bethell et al, 2019).…”

Resilience and Stress as Mediators in the Relationship of Mindfulness and Happiness

“…Prior research has shown that resilience is a human strength that may have a considerable impact on subjective well-being or happiness (Lü et al, 2014;Tan et al, 2021). Resilient individuals are more persistent in adverse situations, cope better with everyday difficulties and have more capacity to respond to life stressors (Mandleco and Peery, 2000;Hays-Grudo et al, 2021). Character strengths such as hope, zest, and bravery play an instrumental role in resilience-related factors such as optimism and positive affect (Martínez-Martí and Ruch, 2017), which eventually help resilient individuals face stressors in a positive way.…”