Resilience in adulthood is defined as the ability to adapt to stress and recover; which strategies foster it in clients?

• A. It is the ability to avoid stress entirely.
• B. Resilience is the ability to adapt to stress and recover; strategies include building social support and developing adaptive coping/problem-solving skills.
• C. Resilience means never experiencing distress.
• D. Resilience is determined solely by genetics.

Answer: (B)

Resilience in adulthood is about the dynamic process of adapting to stress and recovering from adversity, not about avoiding difficulties. The strategies that best foster this capacity are those that strengthen a person’s support network and their ability to cope and solve problems effectively. Building social support provides emotional comfort, practical help, and encouragement, which buffer stress and widen available options for action. Developing adaptive coping and problem-solving skills helps individuals reframe challenges, generate workable solutions, and regain a sense of control, all of which bolster resilience.

Other ideas—like avoiding stress entirely, never experiencing distress, or being determined solely by genetics—don’t capture resilience as a learnable, modifying process. Resilience grows through social connections and practiced coping strategies, not through denial of stress or fixed biology.