Challenge V/S Opportunity Paradox:A Perspective Taking Approach for Developing Resilience and Increasing Self-Efficacy in Adolescents

Abstract

Over the past two decades, rapid urbanization, institutionahzation, advanced technology, cultural diversity and sometimes geographic mobility have radically transformed the environment and this new environment has fundamentally altered the circumstances of growing up as an adolescent in the developing countries like India. Furthermore, the research in the field of adolescent development has undergone a growth spurt and knowledge has expanded significantly. Adolescence is a critical period of overall development which poses significant developmental challenges specifically in academic achievement but fail to demonstrate optimal growth, adjustment and adaptation success in other domain for e.g., behavior and emotion regulation. Adolescents who do not successfully meet developmental challenges may experience mental and behavioral problems as a result of this failure and may further interfere with successful adaptation. Adolescent behavior problems such as substance abuse, antisocial behavior and mental health behavior problems are substantial in rapidly developing countries like India. An understanding of risk and protective factors at multiple levels including child, family, school, peer group and community has influenced the intervention strategies. However at individual level there is a paucity of careful consideration, knowledge and studies of changing the perspective of challenges from positive psychology point of view. Positive psychology provides a view of changing the developmental challenges into opportunities that would promote the optimal development of cognitive, emotional, moral and identity development in adolescents. This article is an attempt to understand the concept of challenge v/s opportunity paradox while inculcating the positivism through perspective taking approach during the critical adolescence period. This article would facilitate the understanding of developing and linking competence to opportunities to learn to mitigate challenges through positive psychology.