Research summary
We know far more about what causes child, family and community dysfunction than we do about how people handle it. But resilience research shifts the focus from what’s going wrong to what helps people cope using the resources at their disposal. As Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience, Dr. Michael Ungar is exploring how biological, psychological, social, economic and ecological systems interact to produce positive change during adversity.
Through a series of international and domestic longitudinal studies, he and his research team are determining which factors are most important for resilience across the lifespan and across cultures and contexts. Their work is laying the foundation for the creation of numerous knowledge-sharing initiatives to help build resilience among stressed populations, from books to blogs, podcasts and curricula.