Editorial Issue 2

Abstract

Processes of risk and resilience have represented a major theme of contemporary developmental psychology in order to understand adaptive and maladaptive paths of development throughout the entire course of life.  Recently, a great improvement in our understanding of risk and resilience has been due to the interdisciplinary effort to integrate stable and changing aspects of contextual and individual levels of analysis. The skills that individual develops to cope with difficulties and adversity represent an essential features of resilience likewise enduring resources in families, neighbourhoods and schools individuals may benefit through their development. This change of perspective has carried out relevant implications for the detailed models of change that implicitly or explicitly guide policy and interventions.

However, a deeper understanding is even needed of the processes that produce resilience under different conditions for different individuals, above all during infancy and adolescence, in order to guide the efficacy and efficiency of policies and programs. A substantial portion of today’s youth are involved in various situations or engage in behaviours that have the potential to restrict their ability to lead productive and healthy lives. Further, it is necessary to examine the concepts of risk and resilience in a manner that incorporates culture and diversity. In this perspective, we strongly wish JCDP might contribute to the scientific debate about “what works” in interventions and programs based on risk/resilience in order to refine theory and models of competence and psychopathology in development.