Abstract
Resilience is seen as a positive predictive factor of one's overall mental health and well-being. The present study explored the relationship between resilience and adverse life experiences. The researchers hypothesized that individuals who had increased adverse life experiences would have increased levels of resilience. Additionally, the researchers hypothesized that higher levels of resilience in participants would positively correlate to the use of supportive services. The researchers hoped to identify the support services utilized the most by those with high resilience scores in order to suggest the services that might better support or increase resilience. To target the resilience levels of study participants, researchers conducted their research using a problem solving capacity questionnaire as a tool to gauge the resilience of participants. Researchers then compared the results of the participants' problem solving scores in comparison to their perceived adverse life experiences. The results of the present study do not support the hypothesis, but rather indicate a neutral correlation between adverse life experiences and resilience.Findings of the study present prompting questions for future research. Although the findings are not generalizable, social workers in particular may use the results of this study in order to further research on best practices for increasing resilience among their clients.