From surviving to thriving: a process–ecological model of psychological resilience in doctoral students

TL;DR

This study introduces a new model of psychological resilience for doctoral students, showing how they can move from merely surviving to thriving through interactions with their academic environment.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel process–ecological model of resilience, emphasizing dynamic development and ecological interactions in doctoral education.

Findings

A four-stage nonlinear pathway of resilience development was identified: stress perception, cognitive restructuring, strategy integration, and value transcendence.

Resilience is driven by a dual-engine mechanism involving meaning-making and agency activation within individual, relational, and institutional ecosystems.

The model suggests a shift from remedial interventions to cultivating an ecological resilience system for doctoral students.

Abstract

Doctoral students worldwide face considerable mental health challenges. Predominant research, often grounded in a pathological paradigm, has treated psychological resilience as a static trait, thereby overlooking its dynamic construction and ecological embeddedness within person–environment interactions.

This study explores how doctoral students in high-pressure academic settings build psychological resilience through ongoing interaction with their ecosystems to transition from a state of survival to one of thriving.

Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 doctoral students from Chinese universities. Data were analyzed through a process of constant comparative method and iterative coding.

The analysis yielded a process–ecological model of psychological resilience. This model identifies a four-stage, nonlinear developmental pathway: stress perception, cognitive restructuring, strategy integration, and value transcendence. This progression is powered by a dual-engine mechanism in which meaning-making provides direction and agency activation supplies motivation, all nested within and shaped by the dynamic interplay of individual, relational, and institutional ecosystems.

The process-ecological model frames psychological resilience as a dynamic practice that co-evolves with academic identity formation. We advocate for a fundamental paradigm shift in the doctoral student support system—from individual-level remedial interventions toward the systematic cultivation of an enabling, ecological resilience system.

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