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Psychophysiology of Resilience to Stress 127

who have experienced negative effects of stress or adversity gradually and

eventually return to their original (prestress) levels of psychologically
functional* and emotional well-being (Fredrickson et al., 2003). By contrast,
resilience is more commonly viewed as an active maintenance of homeostasis
and healthy function over time. When confronted by stress, resilient indi-
viduals exhibit a more stable “trajectory” of psychological functioning in
response. Thus, resilience to stress tends to minimize the need for recov-

ery from stress. Indeed, resilient individuals may not need to recover at all

because they often thrive during times of adversity and enjoy the rewards of

psychological growth (Carver, 1998). This perspective on resilience versus
recovery is helpful because it allows the researcher to account for a broad
range of negative and positive psychological outcomes in response to stress.
However, this same broad range of psychological outcome can be more

difficult to map at the physiological level, where resilience and recovery may

be somewhat more difficult to differentiate. In physiology, the concept of
“allostasis” refers to the maintenance of stability through change (McEwen,
2003; Sterling & Eyer, 1988). Physiological systems that involve glucocorticoids
(e.g., cortisol; Sapolsky et al., 2000), adrenaline, and cytokines can produce
physiological changes, which are adaptive in the short run. However, if these

processes are not turned off, they can produce allostatic load, whereby tissues
can become damaged by chronic hormonal activation (McEwen, 1998). Th us,
physiological resilience can be viewed as maintenance of stability such that
allostatic load and resulting tissue damage are avoided. In this case, however,
recovery (to homeostasis) is, by definition, an essential component of resil-

ience. That is, maintenance of physiological stability cannot be accomplished

if physiological systems do not recover from effects of stress to tolerable lim-

its of their prestress levels. Th is definition does not imply that physiological
recovery is the only factor important to physiological resilience or that the
two constructs are indistinct. Nor does it imply that physiological recovery
and resilience necessarily promote psychological growth. Rather, it is simply
important to recognize that successful physiological recovery from the
effects of stress is an essential aspect of physiological resilience. By extension,

it is reasonable to suppose that unsuccessful physiological recovery would
likely make it more difficult to achieve or sustain psychologically resilient

processes, strategies, and outcomes.

Positive Reappraisal

There is a vast literature detailing the multitude of coping strategies that
people employ to recover from stressful experiences (see review by Skinner,

* Individuals in “recovery” from stress may still experience subthreshold psychopatho-
logical symptoms (Bonanno, 2004).

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