The Promotion of Resilience: A Person-Centered Perspective of Prevention in Early Childhood Institutions

This article describes the ideas that defined and the data that evaluated the project "Empower children! - Promotion of Resilience in Early Childhood Institutions" ("Kinder Starken! Resilienzforderung in der Kindertageseinrichtung"). The project's main purpose was to systematically build resilience within children (aged 3-6 years) in a kindergarten setting through the following interventions: (a) The training and supervision of early childhood educators; (b) the children's participation in resilience-focused courses; (c) the parents' participation in both individual counseling and group training; and (d) the establishment of networks that included counseling institutions and other social welfare services. Integral to the project was its person-centered approach. The project's outcome data show positive effects on the self-esteem, behavioral stability, and cognitive development of the children who participated in the project (the treatment group), in contrast to the children included in a comparison group. This article also attempts to show how the concept of resilience and the person-centered view are compatible with each other.