Resilience in Gene-Environment Transactions

Abstract

Resilient children are not simply "born that way," nor are they "made from scratch" by their experiences. Genetic and environmental factors loom large as protectors against a variety of risks to healthy development, ranging from resistance to bacteria and viruses to resistance to maltreatment and rejection. However, the old view that genes and environments compete for control of human development has been replaced by the view that genetic and environmental influences operate together to produce individual differences in development. The question is no longer whether and to what degree genes or environments matter, but how genes and environments work together to produce resilient children and adults. Our goal is to highlight several areas of research that demonstrate the integrative interplay between nature and nurture, rather than review all of the evidence pertaining to genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in childhood. We begin by considering several aspects of individuality that are critical to resilience in childhood, with an emphasis on temperament, cognitive skills, and social cognitions. We then turn to consideration of the resilience-building transactions that connect the individual and the environment, with emphasis on warm, supportive social relationships (e.g., parents, peers). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved). (create)