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Research on resilience seeks to explicate the pathways by which individuals experiencing significant adversity nonetheless demonstrate adequate or effective adaptation to the world (Luthar, 2006; Masten, 2001). As discussed decades ago by Garmezy (1977), resilience work presents numerous challenges, including but not limited to sample selection, comparison group selection, outcome and variable selection, and method of data analysis. Nonetheless, empirical and theoretical work on resilience has grown substantially in the past 30 years, with new developments in areas such as interaction of factors from multiple levels of analysis that include psychobiology and genetics (Cicchetti & Curtis, 2003) as well as the description of resilience as a systems concept closely related to "regulatory capital" across those levels (Masten, 2007, p. 926), growth that reflects the central importance of this construct to developmental psychopathology despite the very real challenges of empirical rigor.
At the same time, research interest in the transition to adulthood has accelerated in recent years, influenced by Arnett's (2000) theoretical orientation of emerging adulthood, which views the transition years, usually defined as between ages 18 and 30, as conceptually distinct from both adolescence and young adulthood. Although the theory of emerging adulthood does not necessarily apply to all youth or to all domains of functioning, it offers a useful broad perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing many of today's young people by emphasizing the demographic variability in outcomes for youth in this age period (Cohen, Kasen, Chen, Hartmark, & Gordon, 2003). In terms of specific outcomes, the present paper is also influenced by a developmental tasks perspective (Havighurst, 1972; Masten & Coatsworth, 1998) in which age-graded societal markers of competence such as social competence, school achievement, stable employment, presence of romantic relationships, and parenting are strong foci of investigation (see Burt & Masten, 2010; Masten, 2001).
Combining the research and theory above leads to consideration of resilience in the transition to adulthood. The primary goal of the present paper is to take stock of this domain of inquiry by identifying common conclusions and suggesting directions for future work. Our focus is youth who are judged "at risk" to some degree, and who are facing or have recently faced the transition to independent adult living. Attention is given...