The twin study contrasts these with shared environmental influences those that are shared by siblings. For example, if both siblings are exposed to a drug-abusing parent, drug exposure is a shared environmental factor. One weakness of the twin method is that, although it shows us that broadly defined features of the environment influence wellness, it cannot tell us exactly what these features are. Another obstacle to interpretation is that errors of measurement will inflate the apparent effect of the individual-specific environment. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to speculate as to what aspects of the individual-specific and shared environments might be targeted for further study.
Resilient children are autonomous, have high self-esteem, and get along well with others.
Their families are cohesive and free from frequent conflicts among family members. Resilient children also have access to social support both within and outside the family that helps them cope with stress. Although the constructs of resilience and wellness both apply to mentally healthy people, they differ in one important respect. Wellness is purely descriptive. It assesses a person s absolute level of healthy functioning without regard to either the person s constitutional vulnerability to mental illness or his or her exposure to environmental risk factors.