Mental health and resilience

Barriers such as a decline in emotional wellbeing and a rise in mental health issues. The growing attainment gap, political and economic uncertainty. A lack of preparedness for the workplace.

Understanding what it means to be resilient and how to strengthen young people’s resources of resilience is key to overcoming some of these challenges.

This report focuses on ways we can help young people build their resilience.

Fortunately, not all young people exposed to risk factors experience poor outcomes. In fact, many children and young people who encounter stress and adversity fair well, and those that succeed in spite of adversity have been identified as being resilient; possessing certain strengths and benefiting from protective factors that help them overcome adverse conditions and thrive. There is a strong evidence base for the existence of key protective factors at the individual, family and community level, and these resources of resilience can reduce the impact of adversity on mental health. Research suggests that some of the most impactful protective factors are self-regulation and emotional adjustment, secure parent-child attachments, and social relations and social support.

As this range of resources indicates, resilience is best optimised when protective factors are strengthened across all three levels. When looking at ways to build young people’s resilience, it is important to think holistically, for example through the Public Health England (PHE) advocated ‘whole school approach’ to wellbeing or implementing overarching workplace practices. In addition, youth transitions, such as starting school, college or employment are key opportunities to help young people practice the skills and attitudes needed to be resilient. Developing psychological robustness through experiences of transitions in earlier years helps to mediate the impact of adversity in later life.

At The Outward Bound Trust, this is our area of expertise. We provide programmes for young people to develop their social and emotional skills at every stage of their education, from the end of primary school through to university and the early stages of employment. The skills that they develop are those that will play a pivotal role in how they successfully navigate transitions through school, and the challenges of adolescence and early adulthood. As the evidence suggests, this can help them to flourish in many different ways throughout their lives.