Departments of Psychology and Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Department of Social Welfare, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Dev Psychopathol. 2022 Feb;34(1):95-113. doi: 10.1017/S0954579420000887. Epub 2020 Jul 16.
Although early-life adversity can undermine healthy development, children growing up in harsh environments may develop intact, or even enhanced, skills for solving problems in high-adversity contexts (i.e., "hidden talents"). Here we situate the hidden talents model within a larger interdisciplinary framework. Summarizing theory and research on hidden talents, we propose that stress-adapted skills represent a form of adaptive intelligence that enables individuals to function within the constraints of harsh, unpredictable environments. We discuss the alignment of the hidden talents model with current knowledge about human brain development following early adversity; examine potential applications of this perspective to multiple sectors concerned with youth from harsh environments, including education, social services, and juvenile justice; and compare the hidden talents model with contemporary developmental resilience models. We conclude that the hidden talents approach offers exciting new directions for research on developmental adaptations to childhood adversity, with translational implications for leveraging stress-adapted skills to more effectively tailor education, jobs, and interventions to fit the needs and potentials of individuals from a diverse range of life circumstances. This approach affords a well-rounded view of people who live with adversity that avoids stigma and communicates a novel, distinctive, and strength-based message.
尽管早期生活逆境可能会破坏健康发展，但在恶劣环境中成长的儿童可能会发展出完整的、甚至增强的技能，以应对高逆境环境中的问题（即“隐藏的才能”）。在这里，我们将隐藏的才能模型置于一个更大的跨学科框架内。通过总结关于隐藏的才能的理论和研究，我们提出，适应压力的技能代表了一种适应智能形式，使个人能够在恶劣、不可预测的环境的限制内发挥作用。我们讨论了隐藏的才能模型与早期逆境后人类大脑发育的现有知识的一致性；研究了这一观点在多个与恶劣环境中的青年有关的领域（包括教育、社会服务和少年司法）的潜在应用；并将隐藏的才能模型与当代发展弹性模型进行了比较。我们得出结论，隐藏的才能方法为研究儿童逆境中的发展适应提供了令人兴奋的新方向，具有将适应压力的技能转化为更有效地适应不同生活环境的个人的教育、工作和干预措施的潜力。这种方法提供了一个全面的视角来看待那些生活在逆境中的人，避免了污名化，并传达了一个新颖的、独特的、以实力为基础的信息。
