Is your child resilient?

You can gauge your child's resilience by observing his or her ability to cope with stress. What's your preschooler's response to a slightly scary scene in a book or a show? How does your 9-year-old react to being assigned a big project? Each child's individual biological response to stress plays a role in his or her level of resilience. Some children are more sensitive to stress, while others are more easygoing.

Your child's ability to adapt and thrive in the face of a challenge also is shaped by experiences and relationships. Picture a seesaw. Stressful experiences — such as the loss of a parent or having a chronic illness — may pile up on one side, weighing it down. On the other side, however, are positive relationships and supportive resources. These help make stress tolerable for a child, tipping the seesaw the other way. Stress doesn't disappear but the child has the tools to achieve a positive balance.