Evidence and trust
What does research say about helping teenagers build resilience?
Research suggests resilience is built from ordinary things: supportive relationships, how young people talk to themselves after setbacks, small daily habits and basics like sleep. Start Where You Are draws on these ideas and turns them into small actions teenagers can try.
Resilience is "ordinary magic"
Psychologist Ann Masten's research describes resilience as coming from everyday abilities and supports, not rare gifts. That's why Chapter 9 is called "Resilience Is a Skill". Source
A short mindset message can make a difference
In a national experiment with secondary school students in the United States, a growth mindset session of under an hour raised grades among lower-achieving students, especially where the school culture supported it (Yeager et al., 2019, Nature). Chapter 8 uses Carol Dweck's "yet" idea in the same spirit.
Gratitude helps teenagers too
In a study of 221 middle school students, those who listed things they were grateful for over two weeks reported more optimism, greater life satisfaction and more satisfaction with school (Greater Good Science Center summary). Chapter 10 includes two gratitude activities.
Sleep affects mood
A review of 74 studies covering more than 361,000 adolescents found shorter sleep was linked to a 55% higher likelihood of mood problems (Short et al., 2020, Sleep Medicine Reviews). Chapter 5 covers sleep, food, water and movement.
Relationships matter most
The Harvard Study of Adult Development has followed people since 1938. Its director, Robert Waldinger, sums up the finding: good relationships keep us happier and healthier (Harvard Gazette). The book draws on this study, and Chapters 2 and 7 focus on asking for help and belonging.
A note on what this shows
These studies support the ideas the book uses. They are not studies of the book itself.
Quick answers
Has Start Where You Are been formally evaluated?
Not at this stage.
Related questions
Why people trust Start Where You Are
- Written by Ash Manuel, a former PE teacher and founder of Growing With Gratitude, which has reached more than 1 million young people across 1,205 schools in 80 countries.
- Foreword by Dr Phil Cummins of the University of Sydney and the Sydney Character Initiative.
- Shaped by conversations with young people about what they actually wanted from a book like this.
- Published by Amba Press and featured on 9News Adelaide.