In the light of recent world facts, there has been growing attention paid to refugee minors who, fleeing from violence, war, poverty and climate change, or seeking better opportunities, hope to reach safety in Europe. Challenging life experiences such as war, violence, forced displacement, etc., can potentially threaten children’s development. However, many succeed in turning their lives around and develop well despite such negative circumstances. Refugee children, often overlooked by immigration laws and policy makers, prove to be a particularly resilient group, very resourceful in mechanisms for overcoming life adversities. By taking this understanding of refugee minors as a starting point, this article provides an overview of research in the field of resilience, aiming to discuss the implications that tie refugee minors’ well-being to the human and children’s rights obligations that society bears towards them. The article concludes that there is an urgent need for interventions and programs which target factors that promote refugee children’s resilience in their design and implementation, informed by current knowledge of refugee children’s life and cultural background, and their self-ratings of negative and positive life events. The standards defined by human and children’s rights instruments and equity regarding children’s rights to achieve a good life should be a matter to be taken seriously for all children worldwide.

The narratives included in this article were collected within the framework of the project “We Support Senior Citizens in the Local Environment-Culture as an Element of the Identity of the Elderly”, implemented in the Daily Care Home of the Local Support Center in Gdańsk in 2016. They are the result of the author’s personal observations of seniors being in need of telling their past, sharing it, and at the same time sorting it out, and reconciling themselves with the difficult moments in their lives. There is also a need for reflection on one’s past, which gives power and strength to go on in life. In other words, who and/or what makes you want to live and even enjoy life? What is resilience in my life? Remaining impressed by the power of their stories, the stories of people who in the moments of difficulty and pain were able to say: ‘I want to live’, and asking them to reflect on the past, I came to realize what it is that determines the sources to keep the resilience described below and the ability to regenerate.

The article is an attempt at describing the relation between resilience and needs. It is based on the assumption that these are two sets of variables vital for harmonious development that resonate with each other in a peculiar manner. Resilience and human needs are both contextually and hereditarily conditioned, but the relation between them seems not necessarily a linear one. In adults, resilience might be a significant medium in the satisfaction of needs and even condition them. In children, however, the relation between these variables is different. A child is born with certain potential determining its level of resilience, but deprivation of their key needs, especially during first years, might simply impair their development or disturb its synchronisation. The main issue discussed in this article is the basis of the relation between resilience and the needs that must be satisfied at school. The article contains observations made while carrying out an experimental project that enables the youngest pupils to access and fulfil their multidimensional needs.

Social prevention as an activity to intensify mental resilience

Preventive activities prevent emerging social problems, using various methods and tools for work. This article will introduce the idea of conducting social prevention using paintball and survival, as tools for therapeutic work. Social prevention based on the elements of survival has the nature of recreational activities that prepare participants to take action in difficult conditions and to look for ways to deal with their own weaknesses. In research on strengthening mental resilience, I adopt the concept of grounded theory, based on interviews and participant observation. Social prophylaxis with elements of paintball and the art of survival has features that strengthen mental resilience, teach self-confidence and persistence. Movement prophylaxis uses human potential, energy, and verve to make the best use of these elements in the practical experience of life. Physical activity causes positive changes in human functioning and teaches how to react to difficult situations. The aim of the article is to provide research knowledge on the strength of mental resilience from paintball players who organize preventive measures. The developed materials will be used to build an alternative vision of spending free time for children, adolescents, and their parents.

Coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19) poses a significant challenge for the society. One of such social groups are academic teachers. The aim of this study is to become acquainted with the perceived difficulties of Polish academic teachers connected with the COVID-19 pandemic and to assess the importance of resilience in perceiving these difficulties. One hundred and one (n = 101) Polish academic teachers completed the Scale of Perceived Difficulties Associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic SOTCov19 (NA) and the Resilience Assessment Scale SPP-25. The descriptive statistics, correlation analysis (Pearson’s correlations coefficient), and progressive stepwise regression analysis were used. The study shows that Polish academic teachers experience the greatest difficulties in three areas: recreational and cultural aspect, health and care aspects, and remote working - online lessons. A significant correlation between included variables was obtained. It is also well worth mentioning that the two subscales of resilience - tolerance for failure and treating life as a challenge, and personal competence to deal with and tolerance of negative emotions - entail a predictive function in explaining the perceived difficulties, however the percentage of variance is low, unlike expected.

Emergency following the COVID-19 pandemic has forced educational institutions in over 190 countries to close, and teachers worldwide worked hard to adapt their curriculum to an online format and face multiple related challenges. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on teachers’ performance and verify whether this change may have been justified by individual resilience, self-compassion and awe levels. The respondents perceived a significant drop in performance following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic across all investigated subscales. Preliminary data obtained in this study indicate that this drop may be explained by a link between performance and Awe, Resilience and Self-Compassion.

There are approximately 38 million HIV-positive patients in the world. The effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy has significantly increased the life expectancy of infected patients. The objective of this study was to observe the relationship between resilience (assessed using the SPP-25 Scale), coping strategies (Mini-COPE Scale) as well as trauma effects (SF-CiOQ Scale) and quality of life (SWLS Scale) in people living with HIV. The study included 78 individuals (26 women and 52 men) aged 18–65 years. Significant relationships between resilience and coping strategies were demonstrated in people living with HIV. Resilience and active coping were conducive to positive trauma effects and satisfaction with life. Non-adaptive coping strategies favored negative trauma effects. The strategy of positive reframing acted as a mediator in the relationship between resilience vs. positive and negative trauma effects in people living with HIV. The scores indicate the need for practitioners to focus on interventions which elevate resilience and active coping to improve mental health in people living with HIV.

The pandemic that broke out in 2019 had a significant impact on the lives of all social groups around the world. The imposed restrictions and mandatory quarantine were crucial to limit the virus’s spread. The research comprises an analysis of the psychosocial impact exerted by the pandemic that attempted to determine the response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. For this purpose, a study on social resilience in the pandemic era was worked out. The study consisted of several parts: stress and the sense of safety, education, trust and defined needs and the mass media in COVID-19. The research team decided to present the study’s results in a series of articles that will contribute to forming a complete picture of the community in the context of the analysed variables. The paper is the first in this series. It contains an analysis of variables intended to determine the level of the experienced sense of safety and its constituent, i.e., stress, and the identification of socio-demographic data strongly influencing the studied variables. The study comprised 559 individuals who were surveyed between May 2020 and November 2020 with the use of an online survey questionnaire. SPSS Statistics version 21.0 and PQStat were used to conduct statistical analyses and correlate and assess the correlation of responses. Also used were Chisquare, Fisher’s test and Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient. A logistic regression analysis was carried out for dichotomous variables. The results of the study indicate that the level of experienced stress is influenced by age, place of residence, gender and job security. The sense of safety is inversely correlated with stress, i.e., as stress increases, the sense of safety decreases, indicating a need to undertake appropriate measures to reduce stress. It may be interesting to compare the level of stress with, among other things, information retrieval from different sources. These results will be presented in the subsequent studies.

After the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, the Czech Republic became fully aware of the threats posed by the Kremlin despite President Zeman has denied the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine and has criticised the EU sanctions against Russia. Czechia belongs to the group of countries through which Russia influences the EU, to gradually and deliberately erode its structures. Russia exerts a strong influence on the Czech Republic by non-military means, including disinformation and propaganda, the activities of secret services, and penetration of its economy and specifically its energy sector. The article aims to answer the question about the role of Russian disinformation and propaganda in the context of Russian influence in the Czech Republic. The role of Russian disinformation and propaganda and how Russia influences Czechia is extensively analysed. The main hypothesis is that Russia treats the Czech Republic as a key state for espionage and disinformation activities and as a zone of influence, undermining the sovereignty of the Czech Republic and the role of NATO and the EU.

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of digital technologies on the creation and final shape of the EU’s strategic autonomy. The author employed the network institutionalism as a theoretical basis and applied a critical analysis of the available material. The following hypothesis is positively verified: development of digital technologies is modifying strategic autonomy and extending it beyond the logic of freedom of political and military action. Digital resilience of core areas of EU’s functioning should be at the heart of this concept. The author argues that this model of strategic autonomy (enhanced by the close alliance with the United States) will enable the EU to strengthen its global position in technologically driven world. Less politicization is also a key reason for such a solution. It is particularly important in the context of the crisis of European integration.

Parentification of Grandparents as a Resilience Factor in the Functioning of a Single Mother’s Family – Research Overview

The paper shows the condition of research on the engagement of grandparents as a factor protecting a single mother and her family including the adolescent. According to the authors, the involvement of grandparents is one of the best methods of support. It is not only the means to eliminate social exclusion of a single mother and her child but also to encourage those who provide help. Numerous articles, book chapters, and conference papers published over the last three decades have been analysed.

This article describes the results of a longitudinal study on the effects of the regular, everyday practice of at least 20-minute-long mindfulness meditation sessions on coping with stressful situations among academic staff. University teachers were selected with respect to the high stress of their occupation and their frequent statements of difficulties with responding adequately to stress arising from the necessity of communicating with students, colleagues and family members every day. They stated that they could not cope adequately and had problems concentrating on other activities such as writing, giving lectures and attending work meetings. At the beginning of the study, the academic staff were offered mindfulness meditation therapy training. The study took place from 2002 to 2020. A total of 124 university teachers were monitored. The research group consisted of 97 teachers at Czech universities (53 men and 44 women) and 27 teachers at Slovak universities (14 men and 13 women). The study’s main objective was to identify the effect of an everyday 20-minute mindfulness practice, which 113 participants performed in the morning and 11 in the evening, on the development of their psychological resilience for coping This article describes the results of a longitudinal study on the effects of the regular, everyday practice of at least 20-minute-long mindfulness meditation sessions on coping with stressful situations among academic staff. University teachers were selected with respect to the high stress of their occupation and their frequent statements of difficulties with responding adequately to stress arising from the necessity of communicating with students, colleagues and family members every day. They stated that they could not cope adequately and had problems concentrating on other activities such as writing, giving lectures and attending work meetings. At the beginning of the study, the academic staff were offered mindfulness meditation therapy training. The study took place from 2002 to 2020. A total of 124 university teachers were monitored. The research group consisted of 97 teachers at Czech universities (53 men and 44 women) and 27 teachers at Slovak universities (14 men and 13 women). The study’s main objective was to identify the effect of an everyday 20-minute mindfulness practice, which 113 participants performed in the morning and 11 in the evening, on the development of their psychological resilience for coping

Migration puts children in a difficult situation – it takes away their stability and constancy of everyday events and plucks them from a safe environment. The purpose of the article is to present the main assumptions and innovative ideas related to the author’s Positive Early Childhood Education Curriculum, as well as indicating the forms of work with students with migration trauma experience. The applied method was the educational project description. The extraordinary nature of the Curriculum is exhibited in the relocation of metatheoretical assumptions – from pedagogy of “lack” to pedagogy of “growth”. Therefore, it is recommended that the child’s well-being should be nurtured (M. Seligman, A. Antonovsky) alongside the development of intercultural proximity and “soft competences”, which are of importance for students with trauma experiences. The Curriculum allows as well for acquiring teacher’s self-awareness. It has been indicated how to implement the Curriculum assumptions – positivity, optimality, balance, and prospectivity for students with various cultural and biographical backgrounds. Special attention is devoted to strengthening the resilience in students with migration experiences and to the directions of actions to enable them the emotional, socio-cultural, instrumental, material and procedural, systemic, environmental and preventive support.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 shattered Western illusions of peace and security, raining tensions on both a macro and micro level. This article was thus inspired by how the war had affected Philology students in Poland, specifically emphasising the city of Rzeszow, which lies close to the Ukrainian border. The aim assigned to the research project was to investigate levels of resilience among students and how this correlates with stress levels and to further investigate the potential coping strategies adopted by the students to mitigate their anxiety levels. What has been shown is that there is a correlation between the proximity of students to graduation and the levels of anxiety they felt about their future employment prospects and that the most common method for coping with stress was to become actively involved in assisting in the most immediate manifestation of the cause of the stress, in this case assisting refugees.

The presented article analyses the issue of university students’ passion and flourishing in the context of the moderating and mediating role of resilience. Research has shown that passion is related to flourishing, and ego resilience explains this relationship significantly among people with high and average scores. Mediation analysis showed a positive relationship between harmonious passion and resilience coping, consequently affecting flourishing. Thus, higher levels of harmonious passion in students correlate with higher levels of resilient coping, which is associated with greater flourishing. The conclusions suggesting a negative relationship between obsessive passion and flourishing and no relationship with resilience are equally important.

The aim of the research described in this paper is to characterize the declared state by the authorities of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association (ZHP) in terms of developing protective factors among scouts. The main research problem focuses on exploring how ZHP contributes to the development and strengthening of protective factors among its members. The chosen research method is qualitative content analysis of normative documents. The study revealed the existence of declarations and possibilities for developing and strengthening protective factors at three levels (relationships with close individuals, environmental resources, and individual differences). Thus, ZHP can become a place that prepares the young generation to face the challenges of the contemporary world and life problems.