Stress Resistance and Resilience in the Psychological and Pedagogical Dimension

Abstract

The problem of stress resistance and resilience has become particularly relevant in the context of prolonged social instability, military threats, psycho-emotional exhaustion, and increasing risks to children’s mental health. These phenomena are significant not only as individual psychological characteristics, but also as important components of the psychological and pedagogical formation of a harmonious personality. The objective of the article is to substantiate the psychophysiological mechanism of stress, stress resistance, and resilience, to differentiate the concepts of their formation and development, and to determine the role of family environment in the development of these qualities in preschool children. The study is based on theoretical analysis, systematization, comparison, and generalization of scientific approaches to stress theory, resilience, biopsychosocial development, and personality formation. An empirical study was conducted in 2025–2026 with the participation of 150 families raising preschool children aged 5–6 years. The sample included 75 psychologically favourable families and 75 unfavourable families. The research used the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the Family Environment Scale, the Parental Stress Scale, and a child anxiety scale. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Student’s t-test. The study identified a multi-stage biopsychosocial mechanism of stress that includes activation, cognitive-emotional appraisal, endocrine response, physiological mobilisation, and behavioural outcome. The concepts of “formation of stress resistance,” “development of stress resistance,” “formation of resilience,” and “development of resilience” were differentiated. The empirical results showed statistically significant differences between children from favourable and unfavourable families. Children from favourable families demonstrated higher resilience, self-regulation, social adaptation, and family support, whereas children from unfavourable families showed higher anxiety, behavioural difficulties, and parental stress.Stress resistance and resilience are integral elements of the child’s psychoprotective system and should be developed within the broader paradigm of educating a harmonious personality. Further studies should focus on longitudinal analysis of childhood resilience and the development of psychological and pedagogical programmes for parents and preschool educators.