Creating Resilience: Is It Nature or Nurture?

Creating Resilience: Is It Nature or Nurture¹?

There is a growing debate among scientists about how people face difficulties and recover from them.

The word resilience describes the ability to deal with stress and to recover from it.

The researchers are asking, ‘why do some people recover and others struggle after traumatic events such as child abuse, gun violence or the spread of disease?'

They want to know whether the ability to recover from stress is in our nature, in our genes⁴, or in the way we were brought up by our parents, how we were nurtured⁵.

Research suggests that both nature and nurture are responsible for creating resilience. But researchers say neither guarantees recovery from hardship.

The American Psychological Association says anyone can learn resilience through kinds of behaviors, thoughts and actions. But that it is not always easy.

In the mid-1990s, research in the United States connected negative childhood experiences with problems in adulthood⁶, like poor mental and physical health. The research also said that each additional negative experience increased risk later on.

Many studies have tried to answer, ‘Why some children are more at risk for some bad experiences than others?'

Dr. Thomas Boyce is a researcher and treats children in California. He wanted to find the answer to that question because of his own family.

He was very close to his younger sister. They experienced a difficult childhood. As they grew up, Boyce's life seemed to progress, but his sister experienced struggles and mental problems.

Boyce said he discovered one in five children have a higher biological response to stress. He said they show signs of too much activity in the brain's fight-or-flight response and in stress hormones⁸.

Observers say that children like these have higher rates of physical and mental problems when raised in a stressful family environment.

Boyce said that additional evidence suggests that these sensitive children do very well with nurturing⁹ and supportive parenting.

Ananda Amstadter is a researcher at Virginia Commonwealth¹⁰ University in Richmond. She studies traumatic stress and genetics, the study of genes. She said that her research suggests genes and environment equally influence resilience. She said that there is no single resilience gene³ and that many genes are probably involved.

Terrie Moffitt and Avshalom Caspi are researchers at Duke University in the state of North Carolina. They have found a connection between differences in genes that help to control emotions and a higher risk for depression or bad behavior in children who experience abuse.

Dr. Dennis Charney studies ways to overcome difficulties in life; he also works at Mount Sinai Health system in the state of New York. He said that our "genes are not destiny."

Trauma² can affect the development of areas in the brain that control anxiety and fear. Treatments like talk therapy and medication can help people who have experienced trauma. Charney also said that a loving family, good friends and a positive experience in school could correct the negative effects.

Steeve Biondolillo is now a 19-year-old college student. He spent his early life in Haiti. His family was poor and he experienced other trauma.

At the age of four, his biological parents sent him to an orphanage¹¹ where he lived for three years. He said this experience was traumatic for him.

"I didn't really understand what was happening,'' he said, "I just got thrown into a big house full of other kids.''

He said that he remembers feeling afraid and alone. He thought he would have to live there forever.

Then came the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The disaster killed more than 100,000 people and destroyed the capital and other towns.

"All the hope that I had suddenly vanished,'' Biondolillo said.

Biondolillo survived and he was adopted by an American family that took him to the United States. His new life gave him many opportunities. But he was still frightened by past traumas¹² from Haiti.

His adoptive parents wanted to help, so they got him and his brother involved in an after-school program at the local Boys & Girls Club where they could have fun. The adults there were supportive, and he talked about his experiences. He said that they made him feel supported and loved.

Now Steeve is in his second year of college. He is studying social work. He wants to give back to society by helping¹³ and nurturing others.

Biondolillo said that his life has been a path from being a fearful child to a "proud young man with big goals and a big future.''

Words in This Story

stress – n. a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc.

traumatic – adj. causing someone to become very upset in a way that can lead to serious mental and emotional problems

trait – n. a quality that makes one person or thing different from another

negative – adj. emphasizing the bad side of a person, situation, or thing

fight-or-flight response – n. (psychology) the reaction of the sympathetic nervous system to a stressful event, which prepares the body to either fight or flee a situation

hormone⁷ – n. one of several chemicals produced in the body that influence growth and development

destiny – n. what will happen in the future; the thing that someone or something will experience in the future

anxiety – n. fear and nervousness about what might happen

orphanage – n. a place where children whose parents have died can live and be cared for

kids – n. (informal) children

vanish – v. to disappear

1 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

2 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

3 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

4 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

5 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

6 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

7 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

8 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

9 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

10 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

11 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

12 traumas   

n.心灵创伤( trauma的名词复数 )；损伤；痛苦经历；挫折

参考例句：

• She felt exhausted after the traumas of recent weeks. 她经受了最近几个星期的痛苦之后感到精疲力竭。
• Conclusion: Safety lens of spectacles can protect the occurrence of ocular traumas. 结论：安全镜片可以预防眼镜碎片所致的眼外伤。 来自互联网

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。