Parental Resilience
Parents who can cope with the stresses of everyday life, as well as an occasional crisis, have resilience - the flexibility and inner strength to bounce back when things are not going well. Parents with resilience also know how to seek help in times of trouble. Their ability to deal with life’s ups and downs serves as a model of coping behavior for their children. This can help children learn critical self-regulation and problem-solving skills. Multiple life stressors, such as a family history of abuse or neglect, physical and mental health problems, marital conflict, substance abuse, and domestic or community violence - and financial stressors such as unemployment, financial insecurity, and homelessness - can reduce a parent’s capacity to cope effectively with the typical day-to-day stresses of raising children. Conversely, community-level protective factors - such as a positive community environment and economic opportunities - enhance parental resilience. All parents have inner strengths or resources that can serve as a foundation for building their resilience. These may include faith, flexibility, humor, communication skills, problem-solving skills, mutually supportive caring relationships, or the ability to identify and access outside resources and services when needed. All of these qualities strengthen their capacity to parent effectively, and they can be nurtured and developed through concrete skill-building activities or through supportive interactions with others
