issue 1 09 - APS Member Groups - Australian Psychological Society

Resilience and Adjustment53an individual quality stemming from theindividuals reaction to external circumstances.Another view expressed by Walker et al.(2006) is the ‘adaptability’ stance that suggeststhat resilience is a result of strategy buildingand cognitive behavioural processes that canbe created and used to adjust to change in aconstructive way. An example of how thisview applies to the university context is thattertiary study is simply part of life andtherefore choosing to leave is not a majorlifelong disaster, but is rather a learning curvealong which skills and understanding areattained. The final conceptual difference comesfrom Rutter (1990, cited in Walker et al., 2006)who suggests that resilience is the positive endof a continuum of developmental outcomesamong individuals at high risk ofpsychological disturbance. Rutter suggests thatrisk is inherent in the context of universitystudy and that resilience can be predicted if asatisfactory risk algorithm can be developed. Itis these apparent ambiguities amongst thedefinitions of resilience that can lead to theperception that adults have certain qualitiesassociated with resilience as a function of theirchronological age due to their life experiences.Martin (2002) defines academicresilience as a student’s ability to successfullycope with scholastic setbacks, stress and studypressures. This construct has received littleattention in the research literature, and a lot ofthe research that has been conducted usesminority groups as the main focus (e.g.,Gonzalez & Padilla, 1997; Sennett,Finchilescu, Gibson, & Strauss, 2003). Studiestend to look at resilience in terms of mentalhealth and well-being, and it is suggested thatan increase in the protective factors associatedwith general resilience will enhance academicresilience. This research is specificallydesigned to enhance primary and high schoolresilience, however many of the aspectsmentioned by Martin, such as improvements inthe students approach to academic work,personal beliefs, attitudes towards learning andoutcomes, personal study skills, and reasonsfor learning, are often alluded to in highereducation literature as being important forsuccessful adjustment to the universityenvironment (e.g., Gardynik & McDonald,2005; Parker, Summerfeldt, Hogan, & Majeski,2004; Perry, Hladkyj, Pekrun, & Pelletier, 2004;Walker et al., 2006). Therefore, one could argueit is throughout the time of transitioning into theuniversity environment that successfuladjustment is critical for individuals to attainacademic success, and, as suggested by Martin(2002), successful adjustment is somewhatmediated by resilience.On entering university greater selfdisciplineis required in managing academicprogress, taking initiative, and making decisionsabout the future (Lapsley & Edgerton, 2002;Larose, Bernier, & Tarabulsy, 2005). Thesetasks contribute to the instability of theuniversity environment. Research shows adecline in social and emotional adjustmentduring the transition to university (Hays &Oxley, 1986) where students must deal with thefirst major separation from parents, changes intheir network of friends, and perhaps painfulseparation from their significant others (Laroseet al., 2005). Urquhart and Pooley (2007) positthat there are a number of equally importantfactors that contribute to successful adjustmentto university for any student, including (a) socialsupport, (b) personal/emotional support, (c)expectations, and (d) academic adjustment.These four factors have been consistently shownin the research literature to play a part inadjustment (Gerdes & Mallinckrodt, 1994;Schwitzer, Griffin, Ancis, & Thomas, 1999).Urquhart and Pooley suggest that there may be adifference in the experiences between matureentry and school leaver students in theiradjustment to university.Pike, Cohen, and Pooley (2008) argue thatin promoting the development of resilience insecondary school students it is important torecognise that a prerequisite for successfulacademic achievement is an individual’scapacity to rebound from or adjust to adversityand in doing so cultivate social and emotionalThe Australian Community Psychologist Volume 21 No 1 June 2009