Personality, Individual and Family Resilience—Psychological, Social and Health Issues

Dear Colleagues,

In the field of psychosomatics and health psychology, until recently the primary focus was the psychosocial aspects of diseases (e.g., factors increasing the risk of and susceptibility to disease) and health. Over the past few decades, and with particular intensity since 2000, a new approach to the problem of psyche-soma dependence has gained popularity. Nowadays, researchers have a greater focus on the positive aspects of personality that an individual possesses and which are conducive to health.

Resilience determines an individual’s ability to flexibly adapt to constantly changing life requirements and effectively handle stress. It is treated as an important indicator of mental health and is built of protective factors against the negative effects of difficult situations. Resilience can be understood as a set of personality traits or skills used for coping with problems, the ability to effectively manage stress through flexible and creative coping with adversities, as well as creating and maintaining satisfying relationships with others. Resilience is a feature of an immunologically strong personality, which can be also described by an individual’s ability to cope with negative experiences and arouse positive emotions, to find joy and meaning, and stay healthy even in the presence of the most difficult challenges, overcoming stressful events with acceptance, flexibility and a willingness to learn and develop.

Models of coping with health problems also account for the family system as the closest healing environment. Although a family may have certain standard ways of coping with health issues, there may be critical differences in their style and success in adaptation to different types of crisis. The family resilience construct focuses attention on resources such as the family belief system, family organization, and communication, which support the functioning of the family in the face of developmental and non-normative crises, as well as in the face of everyday stressful situations. The processes of family resilience make it possible to survive a difficult situation, cope with it and ensure the growth of family potential and resources.

Dr. Magdalena Błażek
Dr. Aleksandra Lewandowska-Walter
Dr. Natalia Nadrowska
Guest Editors

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• personality
• resilience
• resiliency
• family resilience
• community resilience
• social change
• health promotion
• developmental crises
• non-normative crises