The development of a measurement instrument capable of assessing a range of protective
mechanisms within multiple domains provides one approach to operationalizing resilience as a
dynamic process of adaptation to adversity. Assessing a range of resilience promoting processes
would allow key research questions about human adaptation to adversity to be addressed (Allen,
1998). For example, does resilience (a) vary with developmental level, (b) vary across different
domains (social, academic, relational), (c) vary in a curvilinear fashion (extreme ends being
problematic)?