Concept Analysis: Resilience
Section snippets
Purpose of the concept analysis
Resilience is a concept that has been applied to research and practice in nearly every possible area of life and academia - from science to sociology, psychology, nursing, and medicine to business and ecology. With an understanding of its derivation and definition, an integrative literature review was conducted from the perspective of its relationship to psychology and mental health using Walker and Avant (2011). As a consequence of this literature review, the characteristics or ‘defining
Historical perspectives
The etymologic derivation of the word ‘resilience’ is from the Latin resiliens, which means ‘to rebound, recoil’ (Harper, 2012, online) and provides the basis for its application to a variety of areas. Dictionary.com defines resilience as an ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity or the like (online) (Resilience, 2013a). Merriam-Webster dictionary (online) states resilience is the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change (Resilience, 2013b). While
Current use of the concept
As described above, many of the historical studies were of a longitudinal design, studying individuals for many years in chronically oppressive environments. The acceptance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as a clinical diagnosis in the 1980s, legitimized the psychopathology of these types of shorter duration stressful events. It also expanded the scope of more current research in the field of resilience beyond the developmental issues of children living in chronically stressed
Defining attributes
According to Walker and Avant (2011), defining attributes are characteristics of a concept that are most frequently associated with the concept and allow the analyst the broadest insight into the concept. The following attributes were compiled after doing an extensive literature review of all uses of the term resilience. Although, terminology may change for different uses of the concept, the theme of resilience is the same.
Model case
A model case is an example of the use of the concept that demonstrates all the defining attributes of the concept (Walker & Avant, 2011).
Aaron, a 10 year old African American boy and his two younger sisters Latisha and Ashlee were raised by their mother, Dee, in East Harlem. They are all living with HIV. Their mom was infected through IV drug use and unsafe sex and Aaron and his two sisters were perinatally infected. They were all engaged in care and saw a doctor on a regular basis but Dee sold
Borderline
Borderline case contains most of the defining attributes of the concept being examined but not all of them (Walker & Avant, 2005).
Latisha was 8 years old when their mom passed away. In high school, during her senior year, she met Samuel and fell in love. Samuel is a high school dropout and made a living dealing drugs. Latisha started using drugs socially at first, but then developed a serious crack addiction. Latisha and Samuel lived together for 5 years before she became pregnant. She continued
Antecedents
As per Walker and Avant (2011) antecedents are criteria that must come before the concept in order for it to occur. Throughout the literature, an antecedent that was repeatedly found to be a requirement for the development of resilience was the presence of an adverse or traumatic event. This event could place an individual at risk for compromising their ability to cope and overcome stressors. Secondly, once an adverse event occurs or is present, it must be interpreted as being physically and/or
Consequences
According to Windle (2011), “Consequences are the end-points that occur as a result of the antecedents and attributes of resilience” (p. 158). The outcomes of resilience should demonstrate effective coping process and sound mind and body even when faced with adverse situations. Many consequences of resilience have emerged in the literature, such as integration, personal control, psychological adjustment, personal growth, and effective coping. However, integration and effective coping clearly
Theoretical definition
The theoretical definition of resilience is one's ability to bounce back or recover from adversity. It is a dynamic process that can be influenced by the environment, external factors, and/or the individual and the outcome. Haase and Peterson (2013) discuss that resilience can occur either as a process or as a motivational life force that can be developed in individuals. “Nurses bear witness to tragedy, suffering, and human distress as part of their daily working lives, and because of the
Operational definition
According to Walker and Avant (2005), a theorist introduces the reader to the critical defining attributes using the theoretical definitions which are usually abstract and may not be measurable. An operational definition is utilized to be able to measure a concept. The operational definition views the positive outcomes in life. According to Karaırmak (2010), “Resilience is a stress-resistant construct in human capacity that is difficult to measure and define. Although there are some measures to
Empirical referents
Empirical referents are classes or categories of actual phenomena where their existence or presence demonstrates the occurrence of the concept itself (Walker & Avant, 2011). Based on this definition, the focus of using an empirical instrument is to recognize or measure the occurrence of the defining characteristics or attributes of the concept of resilience. The conceptual definitions of resilience from multiple disciplines (nursing, psychology, and psychiatry), age population, and the context
Concept mapping
Based on the historical perspective, review of literature, attributes, antecedents, and consequences, a concept map of resilience is presented (see Figure 1). Individuals have personality traits, protective factors, and experiences accumulated through life which precipitates resilience to surface from within as a process and/or develops as an outcome. Protective factors can either be internal or external factors. Examples of internal factors include personality traits, neuroplasticity, and
Conclusion
Resilience continues to be a relevant concept in literature and in practical application especially in the HIV/AIDs population. This is an important concept not only to patients but also to caregivers who are impacted by this disease. In our review of the literature, we found that additional development needs to be done to measure the resilience of HIV/AID patients and nurses who are involved in their care.
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