Raising Resilient Children with Dr. Ann Masten

Dr. Ann Masten is a professor at the University of Minnesota who has been studying resilience in children and families facing adversity for more than 40 years.

In this interview, Dr. Masten shares the factors that contribute to positive development of children, how the pandemic put children at risk during the lockdown and in the months since, and what children who live through stressful circumstances can gain by enduring those hardships. Dr. Masten addresses the downside of “helicopter” or “snowplow” parents who are overly protective and remove obstacles in the way of their children. She also discusses how bullying, social media use, and climate change are challenging young people in ways that previous generations never experienced.

Dr. Ann Masten is a Regents Professor, Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development and Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the Institute of Child Development in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota. She studies competence, risk, and resilience in development, with a focus on the processes leading to positive adaptation and outcomes in children and families whose lives are threatened by adversity. The goal of her work is to inform science, practice, and policy seeking to understand and promote human adaptation and resilience. She is the author or co-author of many articles on the subjects of childhood resilience, development, and motivation. She is also the author of the 2014 book “Ordinary Magic: Resilience in Development.”

“It’s important for parents to let their kids learn from mistakes and learn that they can solve problems as they get older, but I think that a lot of resilience will happen just in the course of normal life. Life is full of ups and downs…but I think we need to allow our children to have interesting, challenging experiences and support them when they do, but not overdo it. If you overprotect, your kids don’t own their accomplishments, they don’t gain confidence, the don’t experience their own skills.” Dr. Ann Masten discussing the importance of parents allowing their children to take calculated risks, face challenges on their own, and experience failure.

Raising Resilient Children with Dr. Ann Masten

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