Resiliency, Connectivity and Environments: Their Roles in Theorising Approaches to Promoting the Well - Being of Young People

Abstract

Early theory and findings on resilience among young people emphasised individual differences and personality characteristics to explain different reactions to stress and risk. The ‘modern’ resilience literature views the possible explanatory variables for different outcomes in broader contexts such as family, schools and community. Despite this change over time, the individualising, problem-focused orientation of resilience approaches continues to obscure the environment, leaving it an under-interrogated factor in young people's well-being. This is important for its impact on policy and practice in youth development and health promotion. In this paper we argue that contemporary resilience theory and research continue to fall short of the paradigm shift called for by those orientating to environmentally - based public health measures to improve population - level well-being among young people.

Keywords:

• connectivity
• environment
• policy and practice
• stress
• resilience
• well-being