Interpreting psychological resilience in young African American women: a multilevel socioecological framework.

Resilience theory emphasizes that adaptive capacity must be understood in relation to adversity and the resources available for adaptation. However, public health research primarily interprets psychological resilience measures as indicators of individual adaptive capacity, with limited integration of sociological, historical, and developmental context. Such narrow interpretations of resilience may be especially consequential for young African American women, who experience disproportionately high exposure to stressors shaped by socioecological structures. This perspective proposes a socioecological framework to refine the interpretation of psychological resilience in public health research involving young African American women. Drawing on multisystem resilience theory, African-centered psychology, Indigenous health scholarship, community-engaged research, and prior empirical findings, this perspective proposes a socioecological framework that situates psychological resilience within patterned structural stress environments, culturally grounded resource systems, and life-course developmental contexts. Reframing the interpretation of resilience in public health research can strengthen methodological rigor and reduce oversimplified conclusions. Without this shift, narrow interpretations may promote detrimental narratives and lead to decontextualized interventions that are ineffective and unsustainable. Situating psychological resilience within multilevel systems of stress exposure and reciprocal resources supports culturally grounded research and informs the development of effective, multidimensional public health interventions.