When children are dealt a bad hand early in life, they can bounce back if they possess a healthy body, intelligence, psychological stability and emotional support, says a UC Davis psychologist who has conducted a rare longitudinal study of resilience that extends from birth to age 40.

"The chain of protective factors that enabled most men and women to overcome multiple adversities in their formative years and to navigate a successful transition into midlife had many links," says human development professor emerita Emmy Werner. She co-authored "Journeys From Childhood to Midlife: Risk, Resilience and Recovery" (2001 Cornell University Press) with clinical psychologist Ruth Smith of Kauai.

After following 500 men and women born on Kauai in 1955, Werner has found that stressful life events in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood are linked directly to how adults cope with problems at age 40.

Her study found that:

• The vast majority of teen-age mothers (92 percent) had successfully adapted to midlife, and 80 percent had married or remarried.
• A significantly higher proportion of youngsters with delinquency records than youths without records had stressful life events that disrupted their families. Delinquents who did not commit adult crimes had significantly higher intelligence, better self-help skills in early childhood and more likely came from an intact family.
• Half of those with learning disabilities obtained additional education after high school, and the majority were satisfied with their job performance, social relationships and marriages.
• Lifetime exposure to parental alcohol abuse was a major risk factor for those facing adversity at age 40.

Editor's note: Reporters can obtain a copy of Werner and Smith's book by e-mailing Andrea McCardy of Cornell University Press at afc4@cornell.edu.